BillForster

Hi! Don't worry about it. I refrain from using the term "officer" as well. The term turned from screener to officer with the roll out of the blue uniforms and metal badges in an effort to command more respect from the passengers. It was thought that if they perceive the TSA as having authority they would be more easily "handled."


To answer your question, no, we are not trained to swarm and intimate passengers specifically. That seems to be a trait that is cultivated at the checkpoint through poor supervision, a false sense of authority and an almost brainwashed idea that everyone is a potential (and likely) terrorist. However bear in mind that these very traits that result in the "swarm" issue you are referring to ARE trained and conditioned into the screeners. So I think what you are seeing is the end result of other issues entirely.

There is also a great deal of effort put into training TSA screeners to react to situations like robots. Step 1, Step 2, Step 3. That leads to treating people like cattle.

The TSA often pushes a "customer service" agenda on the screeners. But with the other hand puts unreliable employees in front of thousands of people, hands them authority and tells everyone is a mass murdering fanatic and the next 9/11 lies solely in their hands. They also beat the employees down with treats of being fired, fined and even arrested for any violations or infractions in the security system. Which makes these people angry, paranoid and bitter. I used to play a game to see which coworkers and I could accumulated the most threats from management in a day. That's a terrible work environment, especially with people working with the public.

That's another source of the problem in my opinion. They hire the wrong people. Mostly people who can't get jobs anywhere else. People just smart enough to realize that it pays better than McDonald's. These are people who life has stepped on. Now they are in charge!

I hope that answers your question and I hope I didn't rant too much.