Originally Posted by
pmocek
Really? Didn't you just tell us that when you find something that looks to you like illegal drugs, you stop what you're doing, call police, and wait for them to arrive and take over the investigation?
Yep, but when we open the bag drugs are never what we are looking for.
Originally Posted by
pmocek
I'm not sure why you'd be looking for toothpaste, but once you realized that it was not explosive, you're supposed to move on. If while you're pawing through our belongings, you find something that is clearly not a weapon, explosive, or incendiary, but looks to you like it might be a substance that some people are barred from possessing in some places under some circumstances, why would initiating a police investigation of that substance take precedence over searching the next person for dangerous items?
Phil, I’m not going to get into the whole “legalize” issue with you. I know your stand on it, and it is meaningless to me until such time as you either succeed in your quest or you decide to stop beating that dead horse. I have no horse in that race either way, I just wish people would stop putting myself and my fellow TSO’s in the middle of their problems. I don’t care if you do dope or not, just keep it away from my airport. I don’t need the headache.
When I find what I am looking for I stop the search. Period. If between starting the search and that time when I find the prohibited item I am looking for I find your stash, I am going to call a supervisor and then move on to the next bag. If you are dumb enough to try and transport an illegal substance through a TSA checkpoint then you get what you deserve if its discovered.
Originally Posted by
pmocek
How is that different for your Congressionally-mandated search for weapons, explosives, and incendiaries? You search people's belongings, and if you see something that looks like a weapon, explosive, incendiary, or illegal drug, you take action, right? In some cases, you call the bomb squad, in some cases you confiscate the item, and in some cases, you call the police.
I don’t do any of those, I call a supervisor or offer the passenger the options on what they can do with their LGA’s.
Originally Posted by
pmocek
Looking at this a different way, you could just as easily say that you are not searching for bombs, but if you see something that looks like a bomb while you're digging around trying to find some toothpaste, you're going to report it.
Was that intended to make sense? Sorry, I don’t get your point.
Originally Posted by
pmocek
Come on, Ron. You're not really searching for anything. You're simply searching people and their belongings. And when you find any of a number of items, you take action. Those items that, when found during your search, trigger further investigation, include drugs, right?
I’m sorry you feel that way Phil. When I go into a bag on the checkpoint I know what I am looking for, or at the very least what it should look like. If I find something else (clothing, radios, sex toys, etc) then its just a part of the job. Large stack of paper look like blocks of cheese, which looks like blocks of C-4, which goes bang. Some CD players look like control circuits, with leads going to another area of the bag (head phones), near an organic item, which is what Semtex looks like, which goes bang. Under your ankle weights I can see something that also has a significant metallic content, which sort of looks like the slide to a semi-auto pistol I know about, even if it is your cell phone. Get the idea?
Originally Posted by
pmocek
Wrong. You can ignore it, just like you ignore a number of other things which might indicate wrongdoing, might not indicate wrongdoing, and almost certainly do not present a danger to anyone if they are carried into the airport or onto an airplane.
No, not according to SOP I cant. I like my job, I’d like to keep it for a while.