Mats

I was at SFO this morning, noticing that there were a lot of people in the selectee line. There was a group of elderly Asian passengers, each passing through the "puffer," then being wanded and patted down to absurd lengths.

This was not unnoticed by everyone else in the line.

The question that went through my head is, "What are they LOOKING for?" What is the point of wanding and patting down someone who has already "cleared" a WTMD and a puffer? What's left to find?

The other question (a silly one to ask the TSA, I know,) but has SSSS ever been shown to DO anything? Yes, I know that the 9/11 terrorists flagged the CAPPS system, but that's subject to questions about banned items, locked flight deck doors, etc. I'm talking about since SSSS was introduced, has it ever been shown to DO anything other than humiliate and delay passengers and keep the TSA busy?

IslandBased

My GF is southern Chinese 2nd generation and is subjected to SSSS or secondary at every check point

sefrischling

The issue with SSSS is this.....if you intend to do harm and you get SSSS on your boarding card you will do one of three things
1) Leave the airport and miss your flight to fly another day
2) Ditch your weapon,board the flight and sort something else out or do nothing
3) Wait 5 min, go to the counter and ask for a seat change, sometimes this removes the SSSS from your boarding card (no idea why, but it has worked for me more than once).....should you get SSSS again see steps 1 & 2

So no, SSSS essentially does nothing for homeland security.

mikeon

deleted

Mats

I was actually on Continental.

It's quite possible that this was a group, and if one person on the reservation gets SSSS, so does everyone else. It makes such good sense, since terrorists usually travel in groups of 25 elderly tourists.

Cee

As I have said before, I hate the current CAPPS system for designating selectees. It is old, outdated, and just not effective. Firsthand, I cannot remember if I have ever seen an SSSS screening uncover something that the WTMD and Xray didn't find. I still hold out hope that once the BDO's are in place nationwide, that they will do away with CAPPS and rely on the BDO's to select who gets random screening.

Travelling with a person who has been SSSS'd will not automatically SSSS you, unless you are a minor. I don't know why these large groups always seem to get SSSS'd. Maybe it is how they book their tickets...totally ineffective.

AArlington

I have heard of NO security issues with either Continental or United flights in the past few weeks, so apparently the SSSS process is working.

Please do not question the wisdon of the government. They are much wiser than all of us.

bocastephen

Great idea Like the chunky midget at FLL who likes to stand facing the line with a nasty face and engage passengers in staring contests to see who will start sweating?

Yes, the BD program is a classic example of excellence in government - not!

How about we do away with SSSS altogether and replace it with a proper, technically-able, screening system that detects dangerous items correctly the first time.

Wally Bird

If the BDO/SPOTniks 'select' people then it isn't random. Neither is SSSS, although it's arguably less subjective.

I don't think there actually is truly random extra screening, just the punishment kind being explained away as such.

Cee

I know nothing of "chunky midgets at FLL", but I do think that the concept of the SPOT program is good. I will admit that I have noticed a certain *type* of person being selected by the BDO's consistently, but there also is a certain type of person who is not selected by the BDO's. I haven't seen the BDO's pull elderly, minors, wheelchair bound, large groups of people, every re-booked passenger on a flight, people with no checked baggage, people with one-way tickets, people who paid cash for their ticket...
Instead of an automatic computer generated SSSS, let the BDO's pull people who actually draw a suspicion.
How many of you have been SSSS'd before, for the reasons I have listed above? And then, how many of you have been pulled aside for a BDO initiated screening?
If the TSA is going to have "random" screening, selectee screenings...at least get a better system in place for choosing the selectees.

bocastephen

We shouldn't have or need random 'selectee' screening - we need a single, technically advanced, comprehensive screening system which is able to detect dangerous objects and chemicals in baggage and on passengers - a combination of CT/MRI, no-sample chemical analysis, and clothing-penetrable ultrasound. All of these technologies exist TODAY - we just need to bring them together into one holistic solution.

We don't need BDOs - to date, they've added zero extra value to aviation security save for one sole incident at MCO, where the person was acting so strangely even the janitor could have spotted him.

Cee

Layers, dude...think "layers". The BDO's are just a "layer".
I agree that we definitely need better technology. As I am seeing with the MMW topic, people are just not going to collectively agree on any improved technology. I am assuming that your suggestion of clothing-penetrable *ultrasound* is probably less invasive than the MMW...though I am not an expert on technology.

sadiqhassan

I got SSSS the other day at EWR. I had a 200mL bottle of Cologne and a 500mL bottle of water in my carryon. Neither were found

Cheers,

bocastephen

There are a couple companies which produce effective 'no contact' ultrasound for mostly industrial use, but these units could be tested with different power levels for body scanning. I'm still rather astonished how the TSA chose to use a real outline of the actual person being scanned for their MMW machines - it shows just how out of touch they are.

The chemical scan machines can look inside a container (and likely on skin and textile fibers) to determine the chemical makeup of the contents - there is no sample prep, just pass the container through the scanner.

Wally Bird

Or who the most effective lobbyists are...

Snort, grunt, snuffle, snuffle, oink !