Yikes! You guys were busy today while I was working in my garden.
OK, here goes:
Yes. What, are you now a narc and can identify any and all illegal drugs? Your responsibility is finding legitimate threats to aircraft - guns and bombs.
Who are you to define what my job, or my agency's job, is?
My employer has instructed me to notify a supervisor if I find certain, possibly illegal, items in a bag.
Ethically, I have two choices: Comply with the directive, whether or not I personally agree with it; or resign.
Luckily, I don't have a problem with it, so hey.
See this article. We all can agree child pornography is despicable. However, it's obviously not always crystal clear what's legal and what isn't. Suppose you find a dirty magazine and suspect the images are of a 17 year old? What then? It's beyond the scope of the search.
If I see something that I believe to be kiddie porn, it's my job to report it. Period.
You have no idea whether a law has been broken or not if you should discover these items during your search for prohibited items. Just because you assume it's more probable than not that something is illegal shouldn't warrant further scrutiny, absent of any additional factors.
That is your opinion. My employer's opinion differs, and since the TSA is the one signing my paycheck ...
I'll throw another scenario into the mix. Suppose you discover either form of Cuban pesos during your search for prohibited items in the bag of a US citizen? Do you turn the individual over to a LEO because the person may have violated state department restrictions on travel to Cuba? The person may very well have been there legally. Again, just because that isn't likely shouldn't create suspicion, absent of any other circumstances - circumstances you generally wouldn't have from an administrative search aimed at finding possible threats to air travel. Turning over to a LEO is beyond the scope of a TSO's search of belongings, in my opinion.
The SOP says nothing regarding Cuban pesos, ergo I have no obligation to report.
Ignores clear non-constitutional aspects of her actions/claimed actions-apparently those actions are beyond the scope of constitutional rules, rules which, apparently, for her purposes don't need to be applied.
You know, I frequently hear statements bandied about on this board that such-and-such actions are a violation of the Constitution. I think posters need to clarify that IT IS THEIR OPINION that something is a violation, absence of any court ruling actually declaring it so ... and ya know what they say about opinions!
That is not to say the only avenue to policy change is through the courts -- obviously, it's not. There is, for example, lobbying.
What would you do if you saw a 17 year-old with a pornographic picture of him/herself? The child is obviously guilty of possession and production child porn. (serious question)
For starters, how would the bag searcher know the passenger was 17?
The bag search TSO doesn't ask for I.D.
If a TSO sees WHAT THEY BELIEVE TO BE KIDDIE PORN, he/she required to notify a supervisor. Period.
And that's not exactly a moot point as many teens are now snapping pictures of themselves and sending by cellphone. Would you turn them in and ask for prosecution?
See above.
It's not my job to try to determine who the people in the pictures are, whether they're of age or whether the photos were consentual. I am required only to notify a supervisor, who in turn is required to call a LEO.
It amazes me how many people on here are against TSA helping law enforcement in general take a stand against the trafficking of drugs. It's a little disturbing.
I am even more disturbed by the suggestion we should turn a blind eye to nakey kid pics, just because they MIGHT be benign.
It seems prudence would call for a modicum of scrutiny ...
What is disturbing is the fact that you have no issues in using an administrative search (which is non-consensual) to ferret out items unrelated to the premise of the search. Where do you draw the line?
Mostly likely in the courts.
However, the day a TSO calls a LEO over to interrogate me over my possession of these "drugs and drug paraphenalia," I will make it my mission to get that TSO fired
On what grounds? They would be doing exactly as required. Not sure how you can get someone fired for doing their job, but hey, you're certainly welcome to try!
However, the day a TSO calls a LEO over to interrogate my wife over her possession of tea because, in their ignorance of both tea and China, they think it looks like drugs, I will make a citizens arrest of the TSO for filing a false police report, false imprisonment, and whatever else I, as an attorney, can think of.
Let us know how that turns out for you.
Sorry. If the TSO wants to play LEO, he had better get the same training as a LEO.
I'm not interested in being a LEO, thanks. (Besides, I'm probably too freakin' old!)
Why would a TSA screener question anyone about a water pipe? …
Why indeed? Questioning the PAX isn't part of our job.
I have yet to be called to a checkpoint by TSA when pills were in a prescription bottle or another container that is commonly used by those who are on several medications.
I've never seen this happen, either.