Originally Posted by
jkhuggins
I realize this is heresy ... but I think this is exactly the sort of training TSOs should be receiving.
As has been pointed out here innumerable times, TSOs are not law enforcement officers. They don't carry firearms, much less receive any officially sanctioned training on the use of firearms. Any action they take in order to try to stop a mass shooting is likely to be ineffective at best, and detrimental at worst. The last thing any of us need is an untrained hero wanna-be (TSO or passenger alike) charging into a situation and making it worse.
We train our children to react to imminent danger (a downed power line, an abandoned firearm, etc.) by backing away and calling a competent authority to the scene to deal with it. Heck, we train adults to do this. The same should apply here.
I agree - TSOs are not LEOs, and they should not be - they are security/safety screeners.
Given the situation they are in, and the degree of control they exercise over movement around the airport, they should be trained to operate the same way teachers and staff are trained to act in a school emergency.
TSOs have free, unfettered access to anywhere in the airport. They restrict and control pax movement in the airport at will. In the event of an emergency, it is not enough for a TSO to yell 'help, dial 9-11 and run like heck. He/she (like a school teacher or school staff) has greater responsibilities in such a situation.
We're already told that they brainwash, sorry, train themselves to believe they are on the frontlines in the WoT, we have heard some of them say they wonder every day if it will be their last - so the very least they can do in an emergency is stay in place, sound an alarm, and facilitate pax evacuation until such time as LEOs have appeared to take over.