Originally Posted by L-1011
It makes sense from an "Ivory Tower" point of view. IF the reason behind the selectee screening is that you should find what was missed in the regular screening, and I guess that's what the I.T. characters believe, then why give the selectee a chance to drop "that thing" in a trash can on his way back to the checkpoint, only to pick it up again on his way to the gate the second time.
I don't see it that way. Regular screening is effective. Yeah, perhaps we'll miss lighters and small pocketknives, but those things are NOT going to take down an airplane. The rationale behind selectee screening, at least
my interpretation of it, is that while everyone undergoes screening, we are taking extra steps to ensure that certain people who meet a certain criteria based on some terrorist profile matrix don't pose a threat by screening them TWICE.
Here's my criticism of that mentality based on 20 years of military intelligence experience which includes expertise in measures to counter foreign-directed espionage, international terrorism, sabotage and foreign intelligence collection measures:
1. It's a waste of time since everyone is already screened. Screening some a second time (not the same as secondary screening conducted to resolve an alarm or suspicious object detected under x-ray) does not add to security.
2. The terrorist profile matrix is outdated and inflexible. This is especially true whenever small children are issued SSSS boarding passes or passengers who are rescheduled due to the cancellation of an original flight are issued selectee boarding passes.
3. It misses the point behind preventive screening. IF there is an honest belief that someone may be a potential terrorist (based on more than just the criteria used to issue SSSS boarding passes), then don't let that person board! This is the contradiction behind the whole selectee process. We're saying that we believe that someone may fit the profile of an actual terrorist but are going to mitigate that threat by screening that person a second time just to make sure they're not a threat to that particular flight. My approach is a sh*t-or-get-off-the-pot one: if there is bona fide belief that a person may be a terrorist, then arrest that person. Otherwise, leave that person the hell alone.
Not intended to offend anyone; just being blunt.