Anon1934

Personally, I don't think unionization will do anything to improve things around here. Like you said, it'll just made the bad apples even worse. There are those of us who do our jobs and would benefit from unfair practices by management. But then again, there are those would would use unionization as an easy way to avoid being canned.

whitearrow

1) If I get caught in a gate screening, am I going to be forced to throw out the water bottle I purchased in the secure area?

2) What is the real rule -- after I pass the TDC, am I supposed to put my drivers' license and boarding pass in my bag and put it through the scanner, or keep them in my hands as I go through the WTMD?

Anon1934

IIRC, BDOs get two weeks of training, but that doesn't make much of a difference. I agree with your med student analogy wholeheartedly. Personally, no, I don't think BDOs do much of anything to keep the skies safe from those who mean to do us harm. From my experience, BDOs have only caught illegal aliens who are nervous going through an airport to self-deport themselves. Also, in one case, this French guy was high on some sort of drug, probably a hallucinagenic (I know i misspelled that). Other than that, no, I don't see BDOs being of any real use. Especially when you consider the report that Nature put out on the SPOT program.

1) No. You could carry a gallon of Coca Cola you purchased at McDonald's onto the plane, as long as it was purchased post-security

2) We will not need to check your ID/Boarding pass at the metal detector. Go ahead and put your ID back in your wallet and your boarding pass back in your bag or pocket.

tom911

Yes, if the employees there want a union. I've stated this a number of times in the past (caveat: I was union represented for 32 years). I feel the same about any government employees that want union representation to better their working conditions. Will their retention rates be worse if a union comes in and negotiates better shifts allowing more time off? A union may very well be a force for good when they get issues out there for discussion.

We suspended and fired many employees during my career. Having a union did not preclude the inevitable when someone seriously screwed up. All the union did was provide representation to protect the workers rights and make sure the discipline procedure was properly followed, including appeals. The union did not set policy or run the workplace.

If TSA management has their ducks lined up and wants to fire an employee, shouldn't be any reason they can't still do that, providing TSA management has properly documented the offense and need to terminate. That should be taking place with or without a union to represent disciplined employees.

PhoenixRev

Thanks for being available to answer questions, Anon. As much as I am a loud critic of the TSA, I do appreciate your willingness to answer questions.

I have some questions:

1. Do you receive directives either from DHS, TSA or your local supervisors that indicate PR instead of informing passengers with the truth (not SSI). For instance, before the Rolando Negrin incident at MIA, the TSA was standing firm that the WBIs could not display genitalia and that the photos were family friendly. Since the MIA incident, they have never reiterated that stance. So, in that vein, have you ever been directed to say something (on any issue) that was spin instead of the facts?

2. What was the justification for the airside testing of liquids with the roving groups with test strips waving them over passengers' drinks? Was there pushback from the rank and file not to do that?

3. What is the current TSA/DHS directive if you were to find, say, $4700 in cash on a person or in their carry-on baggage while going through screening? What if it was $15,000 cash?

Thank you!

halls120

That plan fell through when TSA realized that DOJ wasn't going to allow a bunch of poorly trained non-law enforcement officers to exercise federal law enforcement authority, no doubt.

I'll add my welcome to FT, and a warning that you better stay away from certain TSO's that post here. Your honesty and accuracy undercuts their carefully crafted (that fools no one) aura of TSA invincibility.

Oh, and if you aren't using an anonymizer of some sort to post, you might want to consider it. I wouldn't put it above the idiots that run TSA to start looking for you.

SATTSO

Though i am sure people here appreciate your willingness to answer, some of what you have stated is incorrect. Note, I am NOT talking about your personal opinions, just some of the policies you describe.

For example, your answer #2 is incorrect. Most checkpoint lay-outs allow for the ID and BP to put away once past the TDC. But SOP clearly states that in some situations the BP may be checked at the WTMD. SOP also allows for the FSD to have those items checked at the WTMD.

So it is incorrect to say we do not check those documents once past the TDC, as doing so is still SOP at some airports.

Besides that, you've handed out a few other bits of slightly incorrect info on policy. The skirt/dress/kilt question for one...

By all means keep answering. I am NOT telling you not to, nor am I suggesting that. And keep having fun!!

That's not why the LEO program was scrapped. It was a funding issue, besides the fact that airports already have LEOs. As far as poorly trained, when it was being established (o corse never went through) the LEOs were to have previous experience, such as local/state police, federal agencies.

And as far as allowing TSA to have LEOs, we already do. Most obvious are the FAMs. But there are also the criminal investigators, who are TSA employees.

Anon1934

Is that so? Then tell me why I passed my HHMD PSE with flying colors, which includes the step-forward method. Really, I'd love to know how that happened if I'm wrong...

SATTSO

PSE for HHMD does not cover WTMD. In fact there is no PSE for WTMD. You know this. (pssst I too aced my PSEs (no dings) but then again, the PSEs are sooooo easy it's nothing to brag about)

You also know that if someone were to wear baggy/loose fitting clothing of any type, it is up to the person at the WTMD to select them for a pat-down - regardless if there is an alarm. You know this is per SOP.

Anon1934

Oh yes, Soooooo easy...that's why THOUSANDS of our fellow TSOs are failed for BS reasons that HQ/testers REFUSE to explain to them. That's why TSOs are constantly afraid that the tester will not be paying attention when they check that interior pocket, and thus get points deducted.

You're still dodging the point of the original question. The poster asked what the process was for wearing a skirt/dress/kilt. Sure, we could pat them down at the mag...but is that covering the inside of the legs? No. Are all dresses/skirts/kilts baggy? Certainly not. I explained what would happen if the person with the dress/skirt/kilt walked through the WTMD and alarmed...which is the proper way to do things.

But you're right. It's up to each individual mag operator to determine if something is bulky enough for a pat down...which leads to even more inconsistencies for the traveling public to have to put up with.

fly-yul

You have in a very short period of time posted enough personal information for a motivated person with access to TSA personnel records to figure out who you are.

SATTSO

I'm not dodging anything. You were asked what the policy was regarding skirts/dresses/kilts. You said no alarm means good to go. You left out that SOP specifically has the WTMD TSO evaluate the clothing and if that TSO determinabthe clothing is baggy or loose, the passenger can be directed to additional screening without a WTMD alarm. The answer you gave was very much incomplete.


And yes, the PSEs are a breeze. Let's face it, most TSOs are NOT the best and brightest. You went to college; i expect you to do well on PSE. It's not too hard to remember the order of coverage for a pat-down or hand wand. Sorry.

In fact, I expect that you, as a college grad, should find the most difficult part of your job being to deal with the other emploees....

He hasn't released any SSI, and i doubt he will, so no need for anyone to look. I've come close, before, and have received some PMs from TSA people to lay off some of those things. Oh well.

Anon1934

Well, at least we can agree on something...

halls120

The FAMs were in existence before TSA, and got their DOJ seal of approval as real law enforcement officers long before the TSA amateur hour arrived on scene. You just inherited them when Skeletor transfered them out of ICE, where they first landed once pulled out of DOT.

As far as 1811 criminal investigators go, yes, TSA has some. Their most noteworthy achievement to date was to violate the rights of the individuals who posted the incompetently-protected TSA ops manual last year.

There is no way line TSO's are ever going to be allowed to carry firearms, or possess general federal law enforcement authority. Unless Congress goes even more insane than it is now, of course.

Like I said, our new friend better start taking care to mask his identity. The mental giants of TSA management won't be happy once they catch wind of the fact that the curtain they hide behind has been pulled back.

Anon1934

Ok, ya got me there, champ. To the person who posed the original question...If you walk through with a skirt/dress/kilt and DO NOT alarm the WTMD, there's still a chance you may go through a pat down. It all depends on who the TSO is. Bulky to me may not be bulky to SATTSO, and vice versa.


I still stand by my original statement that the PSEs tend to be BS. A college degree means nothing when it comes to PSEs. In my experience, it doesn't concern remembering how to go through the motions of a bag check or pat down. The ruling lies solely in the hands of the testers who are, frankly, some of the most incompetent people I've ever encountered at DHS. As stated earlier, if the tester isn't paying attention when you open that interior pocket of your open bag search, you just got dinged and you have no recourse. It's their word against yours.