Superguy

West, that'd be a LOT easier to buy if TSA weren't touting as successes finding drug mules, people out on arrest warrants, people with large amounts of cash, etc, etc and also didn't offer rewards for finding such (as has been reported in the past). It trumpets these things as Big Catches® as if it were the very things they're looking for. And of course, you have to wonder about the changes to powders, etc, in light of Fofana restricting searches of items after they've been cleared for WEI.

Yeah, I know you state that the screener in Fofana acted incorrectly (as is the case any time a screener gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar). It looks like TSA is throwing these people under the bus for doing what they're supposed to do - the screeners are expendable. And if they are acting on their own and not following procedure correctly, then it shows an endemic problem of poor training because these situations happen all too frequently.

gsoltso

I love that phrase! I wish I could take credit for it, but it actually came from the movie "The Thirteenth Warrior". I don't think fear is necessary for a TSA contract, I think having something the agency needs at a cost the agency will pay is what they base it on.

knotyeagle

Whether it works or not is a side issue, like the puffer portals?

gsoltso

I actually worked 30 days at LAX and can tell you I actually saw pretty much the same as GSO (admittedly, LAX is a zoo and it is incredible that anyone can function in that setting, but - I saw mostly things done by SOP and corrected what I saw differently). I know that there are differences between locations, but if you follow the SOP as it is written, do what you are supposed to and use common sense, there is a lot less confusion and a lot more efficiency in the operation. I truly am sorry that you guys have bad experiences, but I do what I can to help personally and forward info up the chain as I hear it. When you have a bad experience (I am talking about someone doing something wrong or rude, not the fact that you had to surrender 8 ozs of Momma Josines BBQ sauce) follow up on it. The agency can't fix what it doesn't know is wrong. I know that it seems that things may not get addressed at all, but they actually do (at least some of the time). I know we have had comment cards filled out that resulted in discussions and better dissemination/clarification of information.

gsoltso

It seems to me that the puffers worked great in theory and testing, but not on the floor. They are a fantastic tool, but the maintenance was getting to a point where it was prohibitive. If you had a machine in your office that was fantastic, did everything you wanted it to, but wound up costing you 4 times the base cost in the 2-3 years after it, would it be worth it to you to keep it? Or would you do some research, remove the device and use other methods that did essentially the same tasks for about a 10th of the cost? I think the puffers were the most compelling case for the research facility at HQ. It places the equipment into a setting more along the lines of a real checkpoint to ascertain whether the equipment will hold up under the everyday stresses placed on it in the normal operating enviornment. Currently they are researching the new stuff available and doing cost/yield studies on newer tech to make certain that they don't have that happen again. I for one, am honestly happy to have the facility, so I don't wind up getting a great new tool that breaks every week! As a tax payer, that should make you fairly happy too!

knotyeagle

When supervisors refuses to give out comment cards is the best indicator of what will happen to those comment cards even if filled out. When writing to www.tsa.gov and getting a canned reply (and nothing else) is also a very good indicator of what happens above the federal security director level.

I prefer the direct confrontation with the offending screener, photos/name included so other travelers can be forewarned how they might get treated from that screener.

I learned a lesson at FLL when 2 TSA screeners after doing a SSSS boarding pass screening did not use the über secret hole punch on the boarding pass, thus I could not board the Delta flight FLL-SLC. The gate agent had to walk me back to the checkpoint, find a supervisor who could use the über secret hole punch. Supervisor was not willing to say the names of the offending screeners.

That pretty will closed the issue for me.

Oh and I almost forgot, it is good that you have such confidence that complaint cards, phone calls, emails are actually read and responded to. Unlike unfounded news reports back in 2007 that showed the TSA was underreporting those complaints.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...ints20-ON.html

knotyeagle

I'm glad to hear you are one of 53% of the people who do pay federal taxes, unlike the other 47% of working (and non-working) adults who don't seem to mind the TSA screw-ups because they don't pay for it thru their lack of federal taxes.

gsoltso

The changes to powders had to do with the fact that it was a security hole that was in the system. Powdered substances weren't checked regularly and it is a threat that has gained more popularity among nefarious groups. Look at the increase in public information on powdered substances and their abilities and a change to policy was a no brainer. By nature, certain types of powders can be an essential part of WEI, and therefore should be screened.

TSA publicizes the "Big Catches" because of the following reasons:
1) The items found are illegal
2) The people caught with these items are doing something illegal
3) It shows the agency is not sitting on it's laurels, and they are actually screening the people coming into the checkpoints

It is an easy way to let the public know that we are not just standing around waving people through and sending them on their way. I don't agree with the rewards thing, as finding WEI and reporting illegal items discovered while doing that is part of the TSO basic job description. Rewards should be given to people that find a more efficient way to work the processes and procedures, or that correct an ongoing safety issue, or do something outside of the normal scope of their job.

I don't just state that the TSO was wrong in that case, if I am informed enough about the case where any TSO has done something wrong, I state it then. The regulations are quite clear, we are not the DEA, FBI, or LEO of any sort, therefore we are not a part of some huge nationwide dragnet for illegal items. It is clear that we are to screen for WEI, and if something illegal (or suspected of being illegal) is found pursuant to that end, then it is to be reported to LEO - end of TSO job. IF TSOs are doing something else, then they need to be corrected.

harlekinen

Interesting tone here.

I hear there's a message out on the Web that urges al-Qaeda supporters to rise up and fight these new security measures, like WBI, by bombarding TSA and the airlines with objections claiming they're an "invasion of privacy."

Is that what this is all about?

Trollkiller

Keep talking like that and they will promote you to spokesperson.

gsoltso

I can understand being frustrated over that type of situation and it should not occur. I can only say that continued reporting will begin to take effect. If a certain airport gets 20 "bad" comment cards/emails/phone calls a year and an airport with the same passenger load and TSO count gets 450 "bad" a year, someone in HQ will notice that at some point. I still say to follow through, sometimes it may take awhile to get things moving, but I actually have faith that things will move at some point.

I only have experience in dealing with comments and such here, and know that they are actually addressed fairly consistently (based on vacations, etc, there may be a small lapse from time to time, but we are pretty consistent). I know that they contact people back from our airport (from what I have seen) on good and bad. I wish I could say it would happen for you everytime you put a card in, but that is outside my purview.

knotyeagle

I'm terribly confused then, for years and years (up until January this year) the front page of the TSA web site showed how many people were arrested for suspicious behavior that week. Which law is that under USC or CFR or any state that you can be arrested for "suspicious behavior"?

Sort of like your brethren screener in Milwaukee (MKE) who told someone with a Kippy baggie that she disagreed with that 1st amendment of the Constitution does not apply to the checkpoint?

But at least your brethren screener Alvin Crabtree did verify that at least the 2nd amendment is applicable. Now if only other screeners can realize that seizing items from unlocked bags and selling them on eBay is not allowed under the 4th amendment.

gsoltso

Heh heh, been paying taxes since I got my workers permit at 14.

knotyeagle

We may have actually discovered the first thing we agree with, and we have not even had a beer yet.

gsoltso

Nah, those official spokespersons are much better schooled in socially acceptable speech patterns than I am. I still cling to the fact that ain't is actually a word, and Ya'll can be used as singular, plural and mass amount with equal aplomb. I also don't do very well in front of crowds and cameras.