While I know I'm new here (I've already had that pointed out, rather sharply), I'm going to go out on what might be thin ice here, and pose a little question (it's a little lengthy, I'm afraid).
The scene, both here and elsewhere in society, media and social channels are chock full of criticism against the TSA, airport and aviation security - and security in general, in fact, but let's stick to the TSA and airport security here...
It's not just the frequent fliers that scream blue murder over the TSA's regulations, procedures and perceived violations (I'm not saying they're not real).
What is very rare is someone presenting
any kind of alternative. Some of you have undoubtedly heard of
Bruce Schneier, the IT security "guru" at BT, who's had a lot to say about airport security, but even the self-proclaimed "rockstar of security" has yet to bring anything constructive when it comes to an alternative to today's setup. That's not saying much, since the man isn't qualified to even look at a security checkpoint, but that's beside the point. Which, incidentally, is that there's are a lot of critics, both from within security and from outside the field, something that signifies the need for immediate change.
My question is, is there
an alternative? What would it be? I'm not talking about something as simple as "disband the TSA", because you actually have to put something there to replace it.
Airport security actually serves a purpose, believe it or not - it just doesn't serve it as it is carried out today. Also, please spare everyone the "investigation and intelligence" rap, because that just doesn't cover everything either - sure it's an important part, but you do need physical security to supplement and complete the picture.
Criticism is always a good thing, but what this debate is lacking is constructive criticism. So, if you were going to build the
security checkpoint again, from the ground up, what would you do? Or, what would be a good idea to include, and what kind of procedures would be acceptable and effective?
-SB-