Originally Posted by
Wally Bird
The screeners can presumably maintain possession of the passenger's bag until such time as it is cleared (SIR, DON'T TOUCH THAT !).
So the situation would be if a passenger tried to exit back to landside without the bag, can the screeners physically restrain him/her. I would sincerely hope the answer is NO, but who would leave their bag or other stuff behind simply to flee ?
That is the reason why we would be catching up to the individual pretty quickly and detaining him. I do not believe TSOs would physically put their hands on him. We had a similar situation occur at BNA. The individual fled back out of the checkpoint upon questioning by TSOs (or he knew LEOs were coming) and was caught in the parking lot outside of the main terminal. He was definitely involved in narcotics, but there was not enough to indict him. He was subsequently arrested for a couple of local charges (disorderly conduct, resist stop/frisk/halt).