TLH is this way too; the giant scanners are in front of the check-in desk, and you can watch your bag come out of the scanner and into the airline's custody. If the TSA clerk finds an OBL in your bag, there are hand-check observation tables where the passenger can observe the search close-up.

IMHO, if checked bags are to be screened, it should be this way. The screening equipment should be in the public, and once the bags are in airline custody, the TSA clerks should have no authority whatsoever to access checked bags once they are screened.

Along that same line, TSA clerks should have zero authority to touch or interact with passengers once they have gone through the security checkpoint--IIRC, they already can't enter non-public areas like vendor work areas or airline lounges, and I would kill to see a YouTube video of a standoff between a the manager of a vendor of airline lounge and a TSA clerk who wants in. I'd also kill to see an airside vendor refuse to serve uniformed TSA clerks--they could say the uniforms go against their dress code and make other patrons feel uncomfortable, just like malls that don't allow do-rags.

Of course, airlines would hate this, since theft from checked bags could be placed 100% on the airline employees. That having been said, I trust airline employees a _lot_ more than TSA clerks with regards to not stealing anything.