To frisk or not to frisk

[Wehwalt]

Yes' date=' well said. The Princess security people do a great job, and they are almost always considerate.

 

Again, sorry to the OP for this experience. For sure, it is not the norm.[/quote']

 

I've sometimes had a problem with a Princess employee, but never with security. I even submitted an appreciation card for one of them on my last cruise. She took the trouble to learn my name.

[greenie082756]

When reboarding a Princess ship recently, my wife beeped as she went through the metal detector. The (male) security officer was holding a hand held detector and said to my wife "Would you rather I used my hands?"

 

 

Am I being prudish to think it inappropriate?

 

No, not prudish. There is a right way and a wrong way.

From what was stated, I would say that was a poorly stated sentence from the security officer.

I would of answered No, get me a female officer if I must have a pat down.

 

I have been patted down as my husband has by TSA. It was a lady that did it and not offensive at all. I actually critiqued it afterwards with my husband and said it wasn't that bad or efficient. It gave us a laugh.

[Quenby]

Standard practice for body search using hands, is male to male, female to female. No ifs or buts.

 

Actually there are a number of ifs and buts. Law enforcement officers are routinely trained on how to do cross-gender searches. You can't always wait for a same-sex officer to arrive at the scene, or there may not be one readily available.

[custompcsys]

Actually there are a number of ifs and buts. Law enforcement officers are routinely trained on how to do cross-gender searches. You can't always wait for a same-sex officer to arrive at the scene, or there may not be one readily available.

 

While I certainly agree with the statement, these are not, by any stretch of the imagination, law enforcement officers. They have no more training and powers than the security guard at your local mall. Although, if the guy was a pervert as seems to be the inference here, I seriously doubt he would announce it out loud in front of everyone. There are much more subtle ways for him to get his jollies on a cruise ship.

 

The OP solved the problem the way they should have, by saying no. What were the security person's true intentions? Who knows...we are all just guessing here. Maybe it would have been worth it at the time to ask him exactly what he meant. IMHO, that would have been the time to deal with it, not now.

Edited August 1, 2014 by custompcsys

[Colo Cruiser]

Actually there are a number of ifs and buts. Law enforcement officers are routinely trained on how to do cross-gender searches. You can't always wait for a same-sex officer to arrive at the scene, or there may not be one readily available.

 

Only in extreme cases, and there is no training involved, if a male police officer must search a female and he believes she has a weapon hidden on her all bets are off. He will do what he needs to until help arrives. There is no well I will only search here or I will only search there. When your life is on the line you do what you have to do. Same if it were a female officer and a male suspect.

 

And yes the guards are far from law enforcement, but they are an extension of the Chief Security Officer and the Staff Captain. They have rules and guidelines to follow andthey do it well.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[Shogun]

Hi All

Am l missing something here,

 

He asked, he was being polite

 

She could have said no

 

She could have requested a female do the pat down

 

Been put up against a wall in an airport and had a lady with rubber gloves put her hand down the front of my pants l did not get asked.

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

[Thrak]

Hi All

Am l missing something here,

 

He asked, he was being polite

 

She could have said no

 

She could have requested a female do the pat down

 

Been put up against a wall in an airport and had a lady with rubber gloves put her hand down the front of my pants l did not get asked.

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

 

Wow. Airport "security". If I even tried to semi-nicely give my opinion of these high-handed TSA agents I would be banned from these boards for life.

 

As for the OP: I keep wondering what it was that set off the metal detector.

[Quenby]

Only in extreme cases, and there is no training involved, if a male police officer must search a female and he believes she has a weapon hidden on her all bets are off. He will do what he needs to until help arrives. There is no well I will only search here or I will only search there. When your life is on the line you do what you have to do. Same if it were a female officer and a male suspect.

 

Here in California police officers and deputy sheriffs have to go through five months of state-certified training. That curriculum routinely includes training on cross gender searches, circumstances when appropriate, and the need to document those circumstances. With the increases in female peace officers and female offenders, it happens........

Edited August 1, 2014 by Quenby

[ar1950]

Its been a stretch, so I'll go with the pat down.:p

 

LOL

 

I said this on another thread. I learn a lot from these discussion boards, but, it is the entertainment value that keeps me coming back..... :cool:

[cdngrl]

Maybe it would have been worth it at the time to ask him exactly what he meant. IMHO, that would have been the time to deal with it, not now.

 

I agree!

thrak, I am not a fan of tsa either, I don't fly into or through the states if I can help it...I just hope they are that thorough with everyone and its not me that they single out!

in port in santa barbara there is a female security guard who I believe I may be engaged to after the search I got!

[Cruisin' Chick]

When reboarding a Princess ship recently, my wife beeped as she went through the metal detector. The (male) security officer was holding a hand held detector and said to my wife "Would you rather I used my hands?"

 

I have never experienced this question before on a ship, nor has my wife. I have certainly never heard it before at an airport where I have far more experience.

 

Am I being prudish to think it inappropriate?

 

I mentioned the incident in one of those "Let us know" forms and said that if it was ship policy to give passengers a choice then perhaps this should be specified at the time and perhaps some gender sensitivity ought to be shown by stating a hand frisking would be done by a female security officer. I got no response so perhaps Princess thinks I am being prudish.

 

Was trying to figure this out. Checked past posts on OP's part and guessing that he's talking about his Alaskan cruise. Is that the case? Was it on the ship itself or on the land (which could indicate port security as opposed to Princess security)?

 

I'm just wondering if this security person was poorly trained as to how he worded his question. Wouldn't you think that he would say something more akin to "Is it all right to use this (indicating the hand wand) or should I get a female officer for a check by hands? But as someone else suggested, did he first suggest the woman check her pockets or ask if she might have metal on her (however that's to be worded)?

 

I think every time we've gone through a security check, there's always been women employees available.

 

So that's why I have these questions. I don't think the OP and his wife are being overly-sensitive. The security staff is employed by either the cruiseline or the port and should be trained on several aspects including avoidance of sexual or age harassment.

[Colo Cruiser]

Here in California police officers and deputy sheriffs have to go through five months of state-certified training. That curriculum routinely includes training on cross gender searches, circumstances when appropriate, and the need to document those circumstances. With the increases in female peace officers and female offenders, it happens........

 

 

Here as well. Every state has a state certification. I am well aware of it. ;)

[shredie]

Wow. Airport "security". If I even tried to semi-nicely give my opinion of these high-handed TSA agents I would be banned from these boards for life.

 

 

You and me both! :) Actually, I just found out I'm pre-check for TSA and I have no idea why. I didn't apply. But hey, I just went through airport security with my shoes on (last week.) I don't doubt that the vast majority of security personnel are professionals who do a good job, but there is always that person with the power complex who wants to put his or her hands wherever just because he/she can (and power has very little to do with sexual intentions in that circumstance.)

[MauiLvrs]

Am I being prudish to think it inappropriate?

No. Completely out of line.

[SandDragon]

As for the OP: I keep wondering what it was that set off the metal detector.

 

Really? That is what you are wondering? Answer: no idea. When my wife was wanded, nothing came up. The following day I beeped and was wanded (by a female security officer, no offer of hands) and the wand also beeped at a point half way up my right shin. No concealed weapon or any metal implants there. I think sometimes they jest beep.

 

To clarify/confirm, yes it was on Pacific Princess at Juneau and the security screening was on the ship by Princess personnel. Also, although my location says Dubai, we are Australian (in case some were putting potential prudishness down to Middle Eastern sensibilities).

 

I am happy to round things up here - thanks for all the input.

[Cruiserkenn]

Really? That is what you are wondering? Answer: no idea. When my wife was wanded, nothing came up. The following day I beeped and was wanded (by a female security officer, no offer of hands) and the wand also beeped at a point half way up my right shin. No concealed weapon or any metal implants there. I think sometimes they jest beep.

 

To clarify/confirm, yes it was on Pacific Princess at Juneau and the security screening was on the ship by Princess personnel. Also, although my location says Dubai, we are Australian (in case some were putting potential prudishness down to Middle Eastern sensibilities).

 

I am happy to round things up here - thanks for all the input.

 

Thanks for mentioning that it was Princess personnel, for sure.

 

The outside security people can be really strange. In Hilo, two trips in a row, the outside security people just passed bags through, without checking anything. In San Francisco, the outside security yelled at us really bad, once, that we didn't even know what ship we were on. Huh? I think we didn't understand their initial question, but then they went off. Go figure. (So much for peace and love in San Francisco.)

 

Let's all hope for happy travels:) Peace and ciao.

[ar1950]

You and me both! :) Actually, I just found out I'm pre-check for TSA and I have no idea why. I didn't apply.......

 

Currently the TSA is randomly giving the "pre-check" status to people on a one time basis for any given trip. We have had it given to us twice out of four trips. Also, we got to go thru once in DIA because the agent at the beginning of the security line was randomly letting people go to the pre-check line. This is "security"? Go figure.

[shredie]

Currently the TSA is randomly giving the "pre-check" status to people on a one time basis for any given trip. We have had it given to us twice out of four trips. Also, we got to go thru once in DIA because the agent at the beginning of the security line was randomly letting people go to the pre-check line. This is "security"? Go figure.

 

I guess after hand patting me about 500 times, they decided I might be safe. :) I can't do the screening machine for medical reasons, and my "spare parts" set off the metal detector. So suddenly I have pre-check (agent told me it was assigned by the airline not TSA. Huh?) OP is also right about the random beeping. I beep going through, but more often than not, the wand doesn't beep. I have seldom had a pat down by Princess, but it was always a female who did it.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Really? That is what you are wondering? Answer: no idea. When my wife was wanded, nothing came up. The following day I beeped and was wanded (by a female security officer, no offer of hands) and the wand also beeped at a point half way up my right shin. No concealed weapon or any metal implants there. I think sometimes they jest beep.

 

To clarify/confirm, yes it was on Pacific Princess at Juneau and the security screening was on the ship by Princess personnel. Also, although my location says Dubai, we are Australian (in case some were putting potential prudishness down to Middle Eastern sensibilities).

 

I am happy to round things up here - thanks for all the input.

 

Thank you for the additional info. I think the person your wife was dealing with should have had better training. His approach didn't seem in line with how Princess should be treating passengers, IMO. To me, security isn't a joking matter so I don't think his question should be taken as joking, because that was the intent, it wasn't appropriate. Those who think I'm being too PC about this, well, again, I don't think this was the time to be unPC.

[Cruise Raider]

In my opinion you are jumping to conclusions on what may have happened and are alittle prudish.

 

People are so jumpy with sexual tension and political correctness these days. Just let the officer do his job and move on.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

If he wanted to take you back into a room and strip, I would question it, otherwise, I think it was probably harmless. In the airports, I always get stopped as I have some hardware in my knee. I think it is so funny that they call a female over to pat down my knee -- just not that overly sensitive, I guess. Really, what are they going to do to my knee that would get me all in an uproar? Nothing!!

[caribill]

So suddenly I have pre-check (agent told me it was assigned by the airline not TSA. Huh?)

 

Some airlines have been allowed by the TSA to print the pre-check option on boarding passes for some of their frequent flyer members. (I have no idea what criteria the airlines use to pick which FF members get this.)

 

Sometimes both my spouse and I get it. Sometimes only one of us. If only one of us, the one with the pre-check takes the carryon which has the computer and the 3.3 OZ liquids liquids.

 

And to add to the fun, TSA will randomly pick passengers in the pre-check line and make them go through normal security, just so the terrorists cannot count on bypassing the normal security.

 

Some recent comments in the news about TSA:

 

"I always feel like the treatment I receive is completely arbitrary," says Sara Shopkow, an editor based in Oakland. "Frankly, I'd rather just walk through the checkpoints naked. It would be much less humiliating."

 

--

 

Or the TSA agent at Orlando who rejected a passenger's Washington, D.C., driver's license and demanded to see a passport because he'd 'never heard of the District of Columbia'"?

[ar1950]

.........

Some recent comments in the news about TSA:

 

"I always feel like the treatment I receive is completely arbitrary," says Sara Shopkow, an editor based in Oakland. "Frankly, I'd rather just walk through the checkpoints naked. It would be much less humiliating."

..........

 

Apparently there was at least one passenger that thought doing that (or almost that) was the best way to go. We were going through security in DIA a couple of months ago and I commented to the lady agent that there was a reason men wore belts (we have to remove our belts to go through the x-ray scanner). She said : "Yes, I know. To keep your pants up." I said maybe just taking my pants off would be the way to go since they were about ready to fall off anyway. She laughed and said that a week before they had a guy just strip down to his skivvies to go through security. Maybe Sara is onto something.....?? :cool:

[satxdiver]

Really? That is what you are wondering? Answer: no idea. When my wife was wanded, nothing came up. The following day I beeped and was wanded (by a female security officer, no offer of hands) and the wand also beeped at a point half way up my right shin. No concealed weapon or any metal implants there. I think sometimes they jest beep.

 

To clarify/confirm, yes it was on Pacific Princess at Juneau and the security screening was on the ship by Princess personnel. Also, although my location says Dubai, we are Australian (in case some were putting potential prudishness down to Middle Eastern sensibilities).

 

I am happy to round things up here - thanks for all the input.

 

The sensitivity of the hand held scanners has to be set and sometimes they set it too sensitive causing false alarms. The security personnel using them most often are not adequately trained in setting them up. Sounds like they had them set too sensitive giving false alarms.

 

Security used when boarding a ship or airplane is not a joking event. IMO the security person was out of line and needed to be counseled. I can imagine the humiliation of some lady being groped by a male security or not.

 

I have read about pax taking most if not all their clothes off when passing through a TSA checkpoint before boarding an airplane in the USA. So the question is if this is a airline full of naturists (nudists) do they have to wear clothing to go through the TSA checkpoint? BTW there is such a thing as well as naturists cruises where they charter the entire vessel.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Due to a medical condition, I get the pat-down. It's never been a big deal for me. They have always used the backs of their hands