Originally Posted by
Section 107
TSA PSCs are not at all trained to respond to narcotics. So no, it is not even an infinitesimal "part" of the mission.
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With all due respect, I don't know the source of your info but I don't for 1 minute believe that.
TSA has never successfully stopped a terrorist so it has to find other means of justifying its massive budget. Which it does by detaining narco-traffickers, currency mules, etc. If the dogs were efficient bomb sniffers we would have seen them much sooner.
Originally Posted by
Section 107
Every airport is different and has its own screening issues, and something in particular might have been going on at Term E to cause a delay, but I suspect had you given the the line you were in more than "one minute" you would have ended up going through more quickly than changing checkpoints. Several time I have been just as dismayed at extremely long lines at ORD (easily 400 people in the line as it wrapped twice around the main concourse area before getting the TDCs) but ended up moving quite rapidly. The PSCs, when properly handled and utilized, are impressive. YMMV.
I pay for CLEAR (and GE for my kids) so that we don't have to worry about variables like waiting in lines at undermanned TSA checkpoints. This pretty much works for me at all major USA airports except IAH where UA kicked CLEAR to the curb and Terminal E is always a nightmare. At one point HOU was even worse with 30-60 min lines. So basically I don't do 400 person lines anymore. Houston is the 4th largest city in the USA now and needs to get its act together at IAH.