Originally Posted by
HSVTSO Dean
We have to conduct routine and random screening. With respect to Jim,
You rang?
Originally Posted by
HSVTSO Dean
who states that it's practically a mathematical impossibility for a human to overcome prejudices and such to be genuinely random, I can say in good faith that I've never been anything but unpredictable in the folks that I pull over for additional screening, even when there's been no alarm.
Actually, I would argue that you're quite predictable. You yourself reveal your algorithm:
Originally Posted by
HSVTSO Dean
He then proceeded to ask why I pulled him over. I explained that we are required to perform continuous and relatively unpredictable screening on people at all times during screening operations.
He asked me why I pulled him, specifically, over. With a thumb over my shoulder directed at the STSO, I said, "Because you're the next one in line that came through the walk-through, and if I didn't, he [the STSO] was going to start fussing at me."
That's not random at all. Randomness implied unpredictability. If I was observing you at the checkpoint, I'd be able to predict with certainty which people you select by doing exactly what you do: picking the next person through the WTMD when you're free to conduct another screening.
And it wouldn't be hard for another observer to figure that algorithm out. Back in the post-9/11 days, when gate-side screenings were in practice, this algorithm was also in use ... which meant that the first person in line at the gate was always selected for "random" (sic) screening. Experienced travelers learned not to rush up to the gate when the first boarding call happened for precisely that reason.
Now, I would argue, there's nothing wrong with your selection procedure. It is not
random, but it is
arbitrary. Moreover, the arbitrary criteria you are using to select the next screenee is non-discriminatory, as you don't take any personal characteristics like age, gender, race, etc., into account --- which is really the objective.
All I'm saying is that the word "random" has a very particular meaning; people sometimes use the word "random" when they really mean something else like "arbitrary".
In the words of Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
