Originally Posted by DocDorfman

I flew OAK - DEN on Sunday, and saw something I had not seen before. It was sort of a passive gate check - 5 TSA screeners stood in various corners of the gate and watched all the passengers, all the while making little "signals" to each other.

It was as if they were a special ops insertion team, sneaking up on the enemy, except it was as obvious as signs the catcher gives to the pitcher.

Stone faced, they stared at the passengers for any suspicious behavior, it was the most amateur effort at playing bounty hunter I could imagine. Two focused on the jetway gate, as if to assure nobody barged it, four stood in opposite corners and scanned the audience.

All wore gloves, and acted as if immediately ready to pounce on the terrorist. Except that immediately after calling the last boarding group, they responded as if the play was over and headed off as a group to the terminal - exactly like an actor might change personality when the scene was over.

Logistically I though it was interesting - unlike the gates, they had no LEO available to address escalating issues. They did not have radio's to call for an LEO and I imagine depend on one of the team to do such in another manner. And a single distraction would cause the house of cards to fall down.

Is this new or am I just noticing?