Boggie Dog

I would disagree with this statement. A FOIA request would likely not preserve checkpoint video. To much time could elapse before TSA would take any action to protect available video. A complaint to police with a request to preserve all evidence would more likely result in evidence protection.

FliesWay2Much

The only way is to call the airport police from where you departed. It's a long shot, but if you rely on the TSA to "help" you, you have zero chance of getting your stuff back.

Section 107

Pretty close.

In all airports I have had experience with it is not the PD nor TSA that owns the security surveillance video but the actual authority that runs the airport. Specifically, the Operations Department.

So yes, a FOIA request is what is needed but it is made to the jurisdiction and the Operations Department that runs the airport, NOT the TSA or the airport police department.

This is a common request. In general FOIA requests are not terribly complicated but they do need to be quite specific and therefore require some knowledge and careful planning to be sure you request the right information. You might wish to seek the assistance of counsel that has experience in these matters. At the same time I would expect the airport PD and the Ops Dept to be at least a little helpful in explaining to you how to complete the request (because they are very interested in these issues for a whole host of reasons).

Boggie Dog

An Appeals Court in Georgia has found that Upskirting is not an illegal act in Georgia. Probably won't have an impact on a case in Washington but who ever knows?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/georgia-...ting-is-legal/

FliesWay2Much

I would think that virtually all airport police departments would gladly contact the right people to preserve the video. The other advantage you have is that you can report a theft at the same time.

saizai

Correct. FWIW, IME — and I've made multiple federal & state FOIAs for TSA CCTV — the state agencies are vastly more cooperative and prompt.

Also, according to TSA's standard checkpoint CCTV agreement (which I also obtained via FOIA), the retention period is 30 days.

a) Legally speaking, destruction of requested video, especially if you suggest that you want it for possible legal action (criminal or civil), is spoliation. The usual remedy for spoliation is that if there is any factual dispute that would have been recorded on the spoliated evidence, the court / jury has to assume that it would have supported the other side's position.

Also, if it's for a criminal or federal investigation (e.g. FTCA, Rehabilitation Act, charge of theft, …), then that's obstruction of justice, which is a felony.

And like I said, the standard contract requires a 30 day retention period.

b) Making a police complaint would help, because that means it's evidence in a criminal investigation. However, the evidence preservation / FOIA letter should be sent to the airport and the TSA; the cops aren't the ones in charge of the video.

To make sanctions stick you need to have whoever is in charge of it (airport & TSA, in this case) on extremely clear notice of their obligations to preserve, and ideally to have them acknowledge and explicitly agree to do so.

c) That said: I've showed in court that TSA spoliated nearly all the video from at least one of my incidents. They didn't deny doing so. It'll be a while before I can bring a motion for sanctions for it — it's on hold on a couple levels deep of procedural stuff.

And that was *with* formal FOIA, evidence preservation letter, etc in place *before* the 30 day retention period was out, with both the airport and TSA explicitly agreeing to preserve it.

So yes, TSA commits felonies. When they do so, your remedy is through lawsuits. There's nothing you can do to stop them violating the law ahead of time; you can just punish them when they do.

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Section 107

Yes, the airport PD and the Ops Dept work closely together on requests like this - on bad weeks it's a daily occurrence.

Saizai is correct but I have a little quibble with the apparent emphasis in his comments - you must be sure to send the request to the Airport. Do not rely on sending it to the TSA. While it is good practice to send a copy of the request to the TSA and the PD to put them on notice, it is the Airport Operator and specifically the Operations Department that controls the video and who must actually produce the footage.

Note that at some airports the PD may be a completely separate entity from the Airport Operator.

And as Saizai points out - when TSA fails to comply with the law the only recourse for remedy (usually an unsatisfactory one if eventually you prevail) is a lawsuit.

saizai

FWIW, for my own CCTV FOIAs, I send it to each of (a) TSA itself, [email protected], (b) the airport authority, and (c) the airport police. (a) is under federal FOIA / Privacy Act; b & c are under those plus state equivalents.

Sending a formal request to all of the above — not just copying them as an FYI — makes sure that they don't get to play hide the ball by saying "we don't have it" when it's one of the others that (in their view) technically has possession — and simultaneously ensures that they're all on notice for the preservation requirement.

However, 107 is absolutely correct that if you want CCTV, you should always ask the airport operator for it. TTBOMK they are always the ones that originally control the record. That doesn't mean that TSA itself isn't also responsible for coughing it up on a FOIA — they are, and IME have done so (eventually, post litigation) when the airport wasn't cooperative.

The reason is more banal: TSA FOIA takes months to years in the best case, and you need everything preserved ASAP to make sure it's not deleted before they get around to it. Even if the airport operator won't give it to you (BOS won't, e.g.), the fact that it was requested and that you asked them to preserve it makes it their fault if they fail to do so, rather than a giant shrug because the people with the tapes didn't get the message in time.

petaluma1

There's a tweet stream on @TSA* concerning someone who tried to get CCTV coverage of checkpoint but apparently applied to TSA and was denied due to "security reasons". TSA out and out lied to him and then fined him $10,500, which he paid! (if tweet stream is accurate)

Actually, it started on @TSA but then went private because @TSA does not allow the posting of links to other sites.

gingersnaps

Do you have the link to the tweet stream?

Always FOIA the airport for video footage. It will be denied by TSA for "security reasons" but that is a BS response to avoid having to approve FOIA requests.

Why is it a BS response, because an individual can film EVERYTHING on a checkpoint - to include the patdown. The only stated exception to filming is "screens shielded from public view". So to deny a FOIA request for video footage based on security reason is simple a stall tactic.

Boggie Dog

In most every case TSA doesn't own the airport video surveillance systems. Our tax dollars may have paid for them but grants to the airport authority/airport police is how custody and responsibility is transferred.

petaluma1

Here's part of it: https://twitter.com/MalwareJake/stat...65099543126017 - dysfunctional TSA

saizai

I've repeatedly gotten airport CCTV, both from TSA checkpoints and other areas (e.g. arrival waiting area). I always ask for it under both state (airport) & federal (TSA) FOI laws.

For all the other BS they've claimed, TSA itself has never claimed to me that CCTV is FOIA exempt or SSI. However, they do always take a year or two to process a request.

State authorities (i.e airports), except BOS, are usually much faster to respond and generally have less BS (except states with a citizenship requirement, like TN - but muckrock.com helps with that). They also are the ones that hold the footage to begin with, so they have to get the request to make sure it's kept before the 30 day standard retention period expires.

BOS did try to claim that it's SSI (TSA didn't back them up on that), and exempt under §(n) of the MA PRA because the location of the cameras is somehow secret.

Nevertheless, I am in possession of CCTV from two separate events at BOS, thanks to the combination of BOS agreeing to preserve it and TSA having to hand it over. (On the other hand, they also failed to preserve all of it both times — both times omitting some crucial parts.)

saizai

Also FWIW: if anyone wants to get TSA video or other records, email me w/ details: [email protected] (or for more secure methods, see https://s.ai/contact).

I send TSA probably dozens of FOIAs a year, and it's pretty easy for me to add another to the list. I'm also quite willing to to sue for it as part of the inevitable next FOIA lawsuit I file against them.

I will normally want a Privacy Act waiver, which is a release allowing me to request on your behalf, and allowing TSA to give me stuff with your personally identifying info. I'm pretty rigorous about protecting others' privacy, though.