Originally Posted by
bealine
'Tis not the BAA that makes the arrest, 'tis the police.
Usually, with raucous "lads or laddettes" (read "chavs or chavettes") going to a stag do in Amsterdam, Prague or a number of European fleshpots - although Las Vegas is now appearing with grim regularity! (I hang my head in shame for being British at weekends) what happens is this:
1. Loudmouth guffaws to his mates that he has "Semtex in his bag. Did you bring the detonator Steve? Have you got the slow burning fuse Nige?"
2. BAA Security man sternly tells him to behave and asks him what is in his bag.
3. Loudmouth guffaws again and states that this guy doesn't believe him! Tell him Steve - tell him about the Semtex!
4. BAA Security man calls supervisor.
5. Supervisor calls police.
6. Police make the arrest and take Loudmouth away for searching and questioning which usually involves detention for a couple of hours whilst bona fides are checked and a charge sheet is typed up.
7. If Loudmouth is lucky, he receives a warning, a destroyed ticket and a ruined stag weekend! If he's unlucky, through stupidly persisting with his guffaws and macho display of muscle-flexing before the "bizzies", he may be charged and face a court appearance at a future date.
Messing about with security just ain't worth it!
Very well written on defence of BAA, industry partner of BA, but you are way off. The police can be called, but they have to make an arrest based on reasonable cause. Sure, he may be detained for a couple of hours, so what?
If a guy has bravado enough to make an inappropriate comment like that, chances are that he is a young guy who does not exactly have to rush to a meeting: so he is prepared to take that chance. Charge sheets:
what charge sheets? A charge sheet is prepared IF the police decide to charge him, which is unlikely to say the least for a piece of bravado in front of security. And even before police find that there , they will prepare charge sheets?
They will prepare what in my state is called an "Incident report": which is as far from a charge sheet as chalk from cheese. Nice try!
Yeah, if "loudmouth" is a sane loudmouth, and ONLY a loudmouth nothing more, then he will be let go. The state does not have the resources to go after every little verbal thing that was said by every loudmouth. But hey, this will be something he will talk about for a long time. No matter how much airline staff and security wish to be the top of the heap, they are just not above the law.
The civil rights of an individual cannot be trampled upon. These remarks may be inappropriate, but not a crime.
Messing with security is not worth it: yeah to most of us including me, it is not. I lose time and money. But a young guy: if he does it, he will be losing a couple of hours with a few huffy cops lecturing him, but nothing more is likely to happen as long as he keeps nodding at the cops agreeing what they say.
BAA security is NOT the cops.