avoiding frisking by TSA agents at airport security

[johnql]

Profiling would have done nothing to catch Timothy McVeigh.

[dkjretired]

Profiling would have done nothing to catch Timothy McVeigh.

 

 

He didn't go through the airport screening process, circumstances to a plane attack totally different.

[mikesteg]

And plenty of time for me to go to the bathroom to remove my bra. But only two choices - frisk now or be removed from the airport.

 

I think they should have allowed you to do so in the private screening room (i.e while observed), but there is a clear logic that once you set off the alarm they need to track you until you're cleared. When and if there is another terrorist attempt related to air travel, letting them wander off to get rid of the offending item is more or less giving them a free pass to try again (especially since our system doesn't seem to make any attempt to track history).

[johnql]

He didn't go through the airport screening process, circumstances to a plane attack totally different.

Alright, how about Richard Reid, the shoe-bomber? Or the American Taliban fighter, John Walker?

 

It's clear that there are plenty of evil, misguided people who want to harm American citizens. Profiling alone isn't going to catch them. Besides, as I pointed out long ago near the beginning of this thread, once a screening process becomes predictable, the terrorists will work around it. While they are evil, they are not stupid. That's why they've started to recruit and use women for suicide bombing in Israel. If a specific ethnic group is specifically targeted with profiling, the terrorists will recruit more people like Richard Reid or John Walker for airplane-related terrorist acts. A predictable screening process is very much the friend of a terrorist.

[Floflegs]

Just curious - what are barettes? Are they hairslides? Security seems much stricter in US then here

[Ehpride]

Just looked up hairslides and it's the same thing imo. Just small hair decorations to hold back hair or keep it up.

[kenandlaura06]

I don't understand why no one minds the indignity we put up with to travel. I am throughly felt up each time I travel because I refuse to take off my shoes until they give me a chair to sit in with my feet held off the filthy floor while they sniff my shoes. Personally, I'll take my chances when I fly. Just like we do every single day in life. I am more likely to die from some disgusting disease I pick up walking thru security at Atlanta's Hartsfield airport barefoot than I am from terrorism. No I am not being a smart a$$. What is NOT acceptable for some of you? Squat and cough? That is probably next. Heaven forbid someone figures out how to make a bra bomb, jock strap bomb, you get my drift.

 

What disease are you going to catch on your feet? Just curious...

 

The eternal battle of freedom versus security...Right now, in public transportation, I will give up a little freedom to gain a little on the security side.

[Dani24]

My understanding is that some people are "singled out" because of their names. If your name happens to match that of someone on one of the "terror watch lists," there's a darn good chance that you'll be checked out each and every time you fly. I've seen numerous reports on this in various news outlets within the past year, in particular.

 

I have been fortunate in that the most I get is having my bags inspected. Once or twice, I've had the note inside my checked bag. And sometimes I've had my checked bag searched through a little more.

 

For instance, when my boyfriend and I went to Las Vegas 2 months after 9/11, I got pulled over by a TSA agent claiming that I had "big scissors" in my carry on. I tried as hard as possible to help him figure out what it was. I thought it was my straightening iron, but he insisted that wasn't it. He refused to show me the X-Ray screen when he put my bag through 3 more times, so I could help him. He fondled my panties (for what seemed like a little too long, if you ask me). And he kept INSISTING that I had "big scissors" in my bag. I started going through my makeup bag, and found this tiny pair of fold-up scissors that I had forgotten about -- TINY! They were maybe 1.5" when closed. I showed those to him, hoping I could hit the magic button, and he asked "what is that?" I opened them to show him, and he snatched them out of my hands so quick. I was fine with that. But, I wasn't okay with the fact that he couldn't even recognize folding scissors. Boy, did I feel safe flying with that guy on the job. Any terrorist could have walked on with a pair of folded up scissors, under his guard. It seemed that satisfied him, though, and he let me through. But, for as adamant as he was about those "big scissors," he sure gave up on them after taking my tiny scissors.

 

And another time, I was really lucky that I didn't get searched at gunpoint. I was flying from JFK back to Oakland, and when I was going through the security check, the woman told me to take off my shoes because there "was metal in them." I knew for a fact that there was no metal in the shoes, and other people with very similar shoes in front of me didn't have to take theirs off. So, I started to argue with her (this was before they made it mandatory to remove your shoes). Her and I started to get into it, and finally my boyfriend (my voice of reason) calmly suggested that I just take them off. So, I did, and that was that. Although, I'm lucky she didn't call the National Guard to come frisk me with an AK-47. =)