TSA payback? Go directly to jail.

The Constitution protects against illegal or unreasonable searches.

There are several ways you can get searched

1. set off the metal detector
2. be randomly selected
3. your carry on bag has something that looks like a weapon


I am a DoD employee who was traveling on orders with a DoD ID Card. I got selected for a random search. The TSA Agent was courteous and well mannered. He never touched me unless he had my consent first and frankly he could have probably done a better job on the pat down. He then asked if he could search my carry on bag. At no time was he ill mannered or discourteous. My two traveling companions were a Dod Female employee and a Active Duty E-7 Female they got searched in the same manner granny did and I didnt see any groping.

When I travel by air I do some preperation, carry a 1 gallon see thru baggie to put my items like wallet, checkbook, belt, metal items ect in and put in a in a plastic container. I lay my carry on bag flat along with my baggie and also pur my hat, coat and slip on shoes that I put into a plastic container. so when I hit the metal detector 99.9% of the time I scoot on through grab my stuff and head to the gate. No searches no fuss no muss.

WE usually run into bad situations when we are not prepared. So if you are flying you have to prepare. I check myself to insure I dont have any prohibited items in my briefcase. I arrive in ample time at the airport to allow for any delays due to a search.

Everybody knows you have to go through a metal detector at the airport. So why would granny fill her hair with metal bobby pins?

I doubt the TSA agent woke up that morning iwth the urge to grope a 62 year old lady's breasts. The metal detector went off so the agent was obligated to do a search. She didnt do it because she wanted to hassle somebody.

Not to mention the fact if I was a terrorist and wanted to smuggle weapons on board my preference would be to do it using old and disabled people, children and women.

When we dont prepare for air travel we are doing our fellow citizens a disservice also. When we distract TSA personnel because we didnt prepare that just gives a terroist a chance to slip through because of strained resources.

TSA is a fact of life if you want to fly.
 
Eghad-

Might I suggest a blue jump suit, sans pockets, and hospital slippers? The rest can be checked.

After all, it's not a violation of your rights so long as you've been "randomly selected". Random selection by Rulers has a long precedence, from the days of Attila, thru the Middle Ages to Nicaragua and little places like Cambodia.
Rich
 
Eghad

Thank you - very well put......... :D

When my sister worked for TSA she had this issue come up.......

A political person (foreign type) set off a walk thru detector...... The setting off of same meant the TSA at that post (male) asked her to stop and wait for my sister (supervisor) This guy was thinking smart.......woman for woman...... My sister said this lady started *itching at the instant she was slowed down.

After the political person was done with her search.........my sister had found: 2 pocket knives in length over 4", a spray type can of pepper agent and one pair of shears with a sharp edge of the cutters over 5". These things were taken and the person was explained her right to pick them back up when she returned to fly home. The LEO that came to watch this hot head go off on my sister wasn't impressed with the lady either. Her diplomatic status might have helped her continue to travel that day?...... I bet her fellow travelers would have been glad she was rid of all the tools she felt needed on the flight? I gotta back you on nail files and clippers.....that is a little much too.
 
my sister had found: 2 pocket knives in length over 4"...

Similar in style, no doubt, to the type of pocket knife undoubtedly used by Todd "Let's Roll" Beamer and his compatriots to fight back against the terrorists, the type of which is no longer permitted to be carried on airplanes.
 
I should have been clearer on the random searches....

The TSA folks dont pick you out the airlines computer does it I guess, its something mandated by TSA??????

Ill have to see if I can find my boarding passes. I remember seeing the letter S on it in a certain spot... When the TSA guy checks your pass he sees it. That morning the 3 of us were the first ones at the ticket counter for that Northwest Flight and all three of us got the mark of the "S"...lol

when we came up as a group the TSA guy was like wtf? hehe He was just as suprised as us. So maybe the some airlines just do a random selection on the computer for a flight and maybe some sacrifice the first three... :confused:

also Rich I dont think Attila ever made a random selection in his life ;)
 
the person was explained her right to pick them back up when she returned to fly home.
Click to expand...
This is the first I've seen of a "return pickup policy". I have seen and had items confiscated and never have I seen an offer of "safekeeping". I'd really like to have more information on this service. Might save me continued loss of dangerous items, like my butane lighter.

More important, I have to ask why this woman was neither detained nor arrested for carrying TWO knives plus Chemical spray? Little doubt that you or I would be facing felony charges today. Is this a kinder, gentler TSA?
Rich
 
At one airport they had a Kiosk that had flat rate USPS Mailers where you could put the prohibited items in and mail it back to yourself.

usually I have a pair of fingernail clippers that I have to toss sometimes when I forget and leave them in my briefcase.
 
Eghad-
I have, twice, been offered the ability to go back to the concourse and mail the offending [fill in the blank] back to myself. Of course this would mean requeuing thru the security bottleneck.

I've no great problem with that or with confiscation, but I do have a real problem with The List and with Rojoe's description of a Clear and "Dangerous" Double Standard.
Rich
 
I wonder what all of you TSA haters would have suggest to improve air travel security?
Click to expand...
one word: PROFILING



edit : a few more words: i don't care what agency or what field or line of work, i abhor the assumption that i am a criminal. i have voluntarily submitted my fingerprints and had state and federal background checks performed, not just for my ability to carry, but i also had to do it to be eligible for my line of work.
its my opinion that i should be able to display my CHL as evidence of being a 'good guy'. and that goes for anyone not just TSA. our office got financially audited this last month and i was accused multiple times of being a 'potential drug addict' or at best, just a 'thief' who might abscond checks made out to the company i work for from retail agents we do business with, never mind that they can only be deposited into the companys bank account, and we'd have to have officers of our corporation present if we wanted to merely cash them, and i'd have to provide two forms of government issued ID, and theres no place for me to run to with any money if i could steal any of it.
what was the auditors solution? remove one step of the process from me: the photocopying of the checks with their remittances.
i'm sure on the next financial audit they will insinuate the person making the photocopies could be a potential thief as well.

my point: people like me or you are not the ones who are a threat to airlines.
 
I dont see eye to eye with everything the TSA does either nor the government. Plus we are dealing with people who wear TSA uniforms. There are some folks who get a little power and it goes through to thier heads. So there are probably some bad TSA folks out there who are abusive of thier authority and go overboard.

My point was to preapre yourself and deal with it. if you are prepared its gonna give the Abusive TSA types less or no chances to hassle. I understand the other folks opinions about searches. I also agree that the system could use some common sense and reform.
 
Eghad-
Agreed and, tit-for-tat, I've not found Airport Security to always have been abusive.

10 days after 9/11, I found myself traveling from Atlanta to Dar Es Salaam. On the return trip, I managed to keep my Sebenza on my person or in my laptop case thru Dar and Joburg Air Security...the risk of trouble in the skies just seemed to outweigh the risk of trouble if caught.

All went well thru to the Atlanta landing. Cleared Customs and Immigration with my firearms.....good to go onto Palm Beach.

Oops, stupid me. I may have cleared a foreign nation's security but not US Airport Security....necessary to clear from the Int'l Terminal to the Domestic Terminal; which is as it should be. Sebenza shows up in my laptop case; I get pulled out of line; a supervisor gets called. She came over and I explained that I had returned with firearms and at least two knives and had simply forgotten this one. She checked my passport and asked some questions. She then walked me over to the baggage conveyor, had me unlock my gun case and dropped the knife in there....off it went.

Granted this was pre-TSA, but I certainly hope this young lady made the transition, her common sense intact.
Rich
 
Agreed

never had a problem with Pilots carrying firearms....seems like a common sense move.

In fact I dont see a problem with Law Enforcment personnel carrying on a plane if they are on business or pleasure travel.

Would even go so far as to support legislation to allow CCW permit holders to get federal ceritfication to carry on planes.

just seems like a common sense thing to me. The more armed law abiding citizens and law enforcment and pilots traveling on planes would be a detterent to hijacking and terrorists.

I support federal legislation that would give CCW permit holders of any state the right to carry in all states and territories of the United States.
 
"So this is how Liberty dies, to thundrous applause?"
Natalie Portman - Revenge of the Sith

Those hijackers should have been shot dead on 9/11 but thanks to our "glorious" TSA no real Americans on board were armed that day. They were trained to be sheep and did what they were told. Now they're dead.

If the constitution were in full force we wouldn't need the TSA. Save us all a lot of hassle and money.
:mad:
 
So my question to you TSA haters is: What would you do if you had to make air travel safe? Any real advice would be interesting to hear.
Click to expand...

Simple enough.

Weld the door between the crew compartment and the cockpit shut.

Hijacking problem solved.
 
Eghad, I keep waiting for someone to rediscover the "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution; the one that says each state will give full faith and credit to the public acts and public records of every other state. CCW/HCP is a public act of a given state just like a marriage license is....

gfen, I agree with you...why not make the bulkhead between the flight deck and the passenger areas solid, and put another door/hatch on the plane for the flight crew? I don't fly that often, but seeing the smiling face of the pilot as I come on board doesn't affect my choice of which airline to patronize one way or the other. I know this solution wouldn't stop a bomb in the luggage, but it would have for certain stopped boxcutters....

AmericanFreeBird, agree with you that the decent folks have been disarmed. MAYBE we can get some strict constructionists on the SCOTUS to form a majority and re-activate the Constitution...it will be a long haul, though....
 
free bird are you for real?

Did you forget the TSA wasn't even an agency until after 9-11? Before that you had contract type security folks at most airports..... Did that even sorta work........ ;) I think not....

I would guess her so called status of a diplomat (dip.) gave her a dumb*ss permit for one freebee? Good question and I asked my sister the same. She stated because the LEO for reasons unknown to her didn't make the arrest. I think he should have but perhaps his boss told him not to????

Correct on the mailer........ I am sorry for not being clear as I wrote that part of my rant. As I am sure I noted before, the system isn't great. Is it much better than before 9-11? Now be honest and real........ We all know things are better for security like it or not.... If you argue that basic point your kidding yourself. It is a strong and powerful

Even though the FBI and TSA are very, very different........ Did the FBI have a perfect start in it's history???????? Do they still refine after finding mistakes and issues........... Are they a federal agency too? Just trying to say anything and everything has problems......If said unit can see and fix some if not all the issues it is doing well.......
 
rojoe, is your head in the sand? we are still in the same vulnerable boat as we were 4 years ago. but now we get to watch our spouses, parents, and children get harrassed while achmad gets waved through the security checkpoint simply because they cannot 'profile'.

you seriously think that is better?
 
space......

Can you tell me how many planes have been jacked since the TSA started the new security mission........? How many persons have been killed by attackers on commercial aircraft........? How many flights on an average travel day......? You don't think having TSA in place has helped at all.........? Who has who's head in the sand my friend????? ;) Don't make it personal because you show your ability when you do that....

I beg you to go back and read all my input........... I don't give unprofessional TSA agents a pass. I do give a pass to a female agent that did her job and was attacked by a citizen. My view point won't change on that no matter if you try to tell me the little old school teacher lady was your mom........ She did a dumb thing no matter how you slice it....... ;) Regards........ HeadinsandRojoe67

ps....... Do undercover agents and air marshal types have to play by the rules of not looking close at certain ethnic groups? Tell me about it? Do you have a friend or neighbor that is a special agent? Lets just say what all of us don't and won't know is that things are watched even when NBC and ABC say it can't happen............. Ok, I am done here.
 
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