Originally Posted by Bart
Always be present whenever ANYONE searches your bag. I always make it a point to wait until a passenger is ready for me to begin my search; however, it is not unusual for a passenger to tell me to hurry it up and get it over while he or she turns away to put on his or her shoes back on, belt, etc. (I also have a habit of turning my palms up after I've finished searching a bag; it's a technique I learned from a fellow screener who used to work in a casino.) These are measures I take to protect myself from false accusations. However, as I mentioned above, I am still amazed at how careless people are whenever their property is being searched. You have the right to observe your property being searched: please take full advantage of it.
I noticed that palms up approach watching The Discovery Channel when they were mentioning about crooked dealers. I thought it was a great idea and since we have a camera directly over us, I've made it a point for all screeners at my airport to do that after each search. It has come in handy in one incident of suspected theft. When the video was seen, it showed the screener had absolutely nothing on them and even showed the screener looking around the work area to make sure nothing was left behind (another point I instruct the screeners to do). Turns out that she had the bracelet at the bottom of her purse.