gingersnaps

Individuals at Ontario Airport were filming the checkpoint from the public area.

A two strip TSO approached and demanded they leave. The individuals refused and the TSA screeners called for Law Enforcement assistance.

Law Enforcement showed up asked if he could help them, the individuals said they were just filming for a project, the Law Enforcement Officer then walked away.

trooper

OK... but in these situations I always wonder how the ones demanding the ability to film "from a public area" would feel if the shoe was on the other foot?

saizai

You mean, like the giant array of CCTV that records all of us?

dsdwe234sfd23

Airports are not "in public", they are private property, still the best way for the TSA to earn trust is to be open and honest.

With great power comes great responsibility AND accountability.

If you are afraid of the public seeing how a job is performed, perhaps the way it is performed needs to change?

WillCAD

Not always. Some airports are owned by private enterprise, others are owned by governmental and/or quasi-governmental agencies. My home airport, BWI, is owned by the government of the State of Maryland and operated by a state government agency, the Maryland Aviation Administration. According to Wikipedia, LGA, JFK, TEB, SWF, and ACY are all owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is an interstate governmental agency. I'm sure plenty of other US airports are government-owned and operated as well, and I believe a lot of other airports around the world are owned and operated by their respective national, provincial, or local governments.

So yeah, some airports are what you'd call "private property", owned by corporations or even individuals, but not all.

But you're right - TSA, like any government agency, should be watched like a hawk by the people whom they are tasked with serving and protecting.

T-the-B

I can only speak for myself.

For around 20 years I worked as an umpire:

1. in "public areas"
2. where video recording was allowed
   
3. and where the video could be used to show I did not do my job correctly
4. and where those recording could be adversarial
5. and vocal

I and my colleagues understood that was just part of the scenery - something that could not be allowed to affect our performance. I can't recall of a single problem over recording during that 20-year span.

Of course, I also recognize that the leagues I was associated with took a greater degree of care in selecting their umpires, and demanded a higher level of professionalism, than TSA does with its employees.

Boggie Dog

What I find remarkable about the video clip is how all of the visible TSA screeners stop work and focus on the people with the cameras.

Are TSA screeners that easily distracted from their security mission?

petaluma1

I think they are taught to do the swarming thing during their "training".

chollie

I've been in a very large crowded DQ when a customer collapsed.

Over all the confusion, you heard two managers shouting words you never hear during a distraction at a TSA checkpoint: "Get back to work, everyone, back to your stations. We've got this covered."

Of course, DQ was genuinely concerned about safety. Gawking employees who abandoned their work stations left unguarded registers and hot grills. A lot at stake.

TSOs abandon their cellphones and personal conversations and FOCUS ON THE MISSION to gawk - and the 2- and 3-stripers are leading the way instead of containing the situation.

Perhaps that 'swarming' thing is taught and practiced at the 'academy'.

eta: ^^^^^ to the police officer!! Polite, non-confrontational - that office and that clip should be mandatory training at the academy.

Well, actually, it wouldn't matter if TSOs were taught that kind of behavior at the academy. If an FSD wants a confrontational checkpoint, that's what we're going to get.

cbn42

From what I know, all US airports that have commercial flights are owned by the government. This may be city, county or state government, or a special authority set up by any of them. The trend of privatizing airports didn't catch on in the US like it did in Europe. I believe a couple airports tried out long-term management contracts, but that didn't work out either.

According to this blog post from a few years ago, TSA does not prohibit filming at checkpoints, but local laws might. I have no idea if any local laws actually do, or whether those would be enforceable. http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/03/can-i-ta...point-and.html

FlyingUnderTheRadar

I liked the police officers reaction ... exactly what should happen. Too bad others do not always do the same.

Never do anything you would not want on a bill board next to freeway or on the internet.

Huh??? While there are private airports to my knowledge TSA only operates a public airports. As such, most all spaces within an airport are public with no expectation of privacy.

Yes ... Next time you are at the airport toss a shiny object or a water bottle and watch what happens.

saizai

I strongly disagree with that. There are plenty of things I do that I would not public. A desire for privacy does not mean you have "something to hide" in any negative sense.

However, I agree with that sentence if you add the clause "in the course of your work as a government employee".

I don't, in general, particularly care what TSOs do when they're off duty and not asserting any governmental authority. (Violent crime during their employment, war crimes ever, etc are some obvious exceptions.) If they want to just take a lunch break, out of uniform, and have a private chat with friends about their latest hookup or sports game or politics or whatever, they have every right to do so.

But when they're on the job, in a public place, acting on behalf of the government? Sorry, that is not a situation where privacy is appropriate, let alone reasonably expected.

There's variability in what entity runs 'public' airports. Sometimes it's the city, sometimes it's a private corporation, etc. Airports are quasi-public spaces.

See e.g. International Soc. for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. Lee, 505 US 672, 677-83 (1992) (upholding airport ban on solicitation — airports operated by a public authority are "non-public forum"; 1st Amendment limitations at them therefore are only under "reasonableness" standard, as opposed to strict scrutiny).

greggarious

First Amendment audit?

I'm pretty sure you don't have 1st amendment rights in Ontario, Canada.

TWA884

Ontario International Airport, ONT, is in Southern California.

greggarious

*facepalm* my bad