Originally Posted by LostInAmerica
The problem with these false alarms is that if/when an actual emergency situation comes up, most of us will ignore TSA as they have no credibility left.
Remember the story of "
The Boy Who Cried Wolf"? That did not have a happy ending.
Who sounded the alarm, though, the TSA or an airline rep. going through the airport police? Any airline rep. seeing a suspect bag can get the airport evacuated, and the TSA only help facilitate the exodus of passengers. To blame the TSA for this seems a little misguided.
You do have a valid point, though. Crying wolf leads to desenitization which leads to complacency. Eventually those who mean us ill will use that against us.
The TSA operate security checkpoints going into the secure terminals. They do not routinely patrol the airports looking for suspect objects (although they may see some during their day to day activities and sound the alarm. If there was ever a catch 22, this is it. No one wants the extra pain in the butt type security measures until they prove useful, which hopefully is never. It's the same logic behind the legitimacy of the FAM program.