Originally Posted by
lovecabo
I went through the PreCheck line at IND on Monday and saw a similar thing, where people from the general line were funneled into our magnetometer. They were all confused because the TSA guy said not to take anything out or off, and slowed things down due to questions. How does this improve our security? If select non-PreChecks can go through without the usual protocol, why make anyone do the shoes/laptops/liquids dance?
Saw this at IND on Monday as well...and asked a TSA agent on the secure-area side of the checkpoint. His answer, "airport security is designed to be random and unpredictable" to which he reminded me that in the pre-9/11 days that we all got to keep shoes on, liquids in bags, etc., etc. etc. He said that they've been routing some general screenings to the Pre-Check magnetometer in order to speed up screenings for everyone in times when the security line gets long. In fairness, when I went through there was probably a 10-15 minute wait in the general line versus, maybe 10 people in the Pre-Check line even with them routing in general screenings.
When asked if this was going to become standard at airports with Pre-Check, his answer: "we just do what our security head tells us to do."