The local airport police, normally through the airport authority, have agreements in place with TSA which detail how their relationship is supposed to work. The reality is that TSA dictates the agreements and the airport authority/police accept it or flights do not leave that particular airport.

One approach that FT'ers may want to consider is figuring out ways to make those agreements very expensive for the airport authority. That may cause some political pressure by local governments against the TSA. One way I can think of is lawsuits against the airport authority and the individual officers when, acting as TSA's muscle, they violate our civil rights.

Already, one district court has ruled that the right to photograph and record things in public view is so ingrained and well-established that police do NOT enjoy their accustomed "good faith" immunity when arresting people for video recording or photography. Those officers face individual liability and can be sued personally. What a wonderful thing it would be if every time a TSA screener tries to restrict photography the LEO told him to pound sand!