Originally Posted by HSVTSO Dean

I think I have the answer to that one, too.

That started in 2005, shortly after the bra-bombers in Russia took down two airplanes. At the time, it was just a torso pat-down - shoulders to waist, front and back and sides. This was done after any and every hand-wanding.

A little later, the so-called Bulk-Item Pat-Down came into being for people who wore clothes that could conceivably hide a non-metallic threat item that couldn't be detected by the WTMD. A little later after that, the decision was made to terminate the Torso Pat-Down in favor of the Bulk-Item Pat-Down. So, the process was that you had to undergo a hand-wanding, then received the Bulk-Item Pat-Down anyway immediately afterward.

Later, it's 2010 and we have a new Administrator. Pistole is, like, "Wha'? Why are we wanding someone at all if we just have to pat them down anyway?" and terminated the use of the wands.

The main difference, though, is that the Bulk-Item Pat-Down performed after the HHMD-screening didn't cover sensitive areas, and the Standard Pat-Down does - in other words, the sensitive areas of the body (buttocks, breasts, etc) didn't have to undergo pat-down screening if they didn't alarm the HHMD. Essentially, it changed the secondary process from HHMD-BIPD, to a blanket Full-Body Pat-Down (which did include the sensitive areas of the body since they're not otherwise already screened) done for everyone who needed secondary screening of any kind.

That didn't last terribly long. Pistole wanted just one pat-down — hence, the "Standard" Pat-Down — but one size didn't fit all, it turned out. We've since added the Targeted Standard Pat-Down (in other words, for very specific areas of the body. An anomaly on the WBI shows something on the arm, then you pat down the arm. It's "targeted"), and the Modified Standard Pat-Down (for children, for flight crews, for a few other things).

Regardless of the specific type of pat-down performed, however, the fact remains that a lot more people are getting patted down than used to. Granted, there's a lot of misunderstanding going about — such as the belief that the palm of the hand is used to screen buttocks and breasts and such — and these things inflame passions even in people that do not fly and have never undergone the screening themselves, but the simple and plain fact remains that the majority of people just don't like to be touched without a good reason.

And they usually reserve for themselves the right to determine what a "good reason" is.



Considering that 90% of the suspenders that I've ever seen come through HSV alarm the WTMD? Yeah~ If you have one of those new-fangled full-plastic variety of suspenders, then it's not going to be an issue at all. It's not a "OMG TARGET THE SUSPENDERS!!" alert or anything. It's resolving the WTMD alarms. I'm sure you can appreciate that.

(Remember, Huntsville doesn't have WBI devices, so I still can't speak to anything about them, citing a lack of personal experience.)