Originally Posted by LessO2
Given the TSA's high-profile celebratory nature when they actually catch something, the silence about this program up until now speaks volumes about its "effectiveness."
I hear (though I haven't looked for it) that there was a big article about it in USA Today at some point.
The program has been very limited to date, so there aren't too many catches to publicize, I'd imagine.
Originally Posted by entropy
If people (who are not idiots) were properly trained, it might be a decent program.
Well, they are requiring TSA people to apply to be part of the program, so theoretically they'll only be taking the "best."
Originally Posted by studentff
And in their fervent zealousness to ensure they don't look like they're using race and to show that using race would be harmful (even though they almost certainly have not done an objective study to determine if race would be a useful qualifier), they will almost certainly pull aside otherwise non-suspicious white people for questioning and decline to pull aside "suspicious" looking "middle-eastern" types.
I understand that there is some scientific evidence to back up the effectiveness of these techniques, though I haven't looked for it. Since they're behavioral, race is not useful.