As I read it, the screener pulled his pants down and did not ask the OP to facilitate his doing so. Outright assault.

Really? The Broward County Sheriff's deputy at FLL, while not facilitating your patdown, did not terminate your illegal detention. Offering to watch is not the same as stopping illegality. If you have cases of a police officer stopping TSA from criminal acts, or arresting TSA members for their actions at the checkpoint, please post.

I maintain that *most* police at checkpoints have no real knowledge of what they are supposed to enforce or do, and are thus just TSA's hired muscle.

The local airport police, normally through the airport authority, have agreements in place with TSA which detail how their relationship is supposed to work. The reality is that TSA dictates the agreements and the airport authority/police accept it or flights do not leave that particular airport.

One approach that FT'ers may want to consider is figuring out ways to make those agreements very expensive for the airport authority. That may cause some political pressure by local governments against the TSA. One way I can think of is lawsuits against the airport authority and the individual officers when, acting as TSA's muscle, they violate our civil rights.

Already, one district court has ruled that the right to photograph and record things in public view is so ingrained and well-established that police do NOT enjoy their accustomed "good faith" immunity when arresting people for video recording or photography. Those officers face individual liability and can be sued personally. What a wonderful thing it would be if every time a TSA screener tries to restrict photography the LEO told him to pound sand!

While belt-less during one of my NoS opt-outs, the screener came very close to pulling my pants down as he did his little waistband thing, and I literally had to tell him to stop pulling my pants down. He did stop, and the incident didn't escalate.

I'm just waiting to hear about a passenger being arrested for indecent/exposure or disorderly conduct or some trumped up charge after their pants drop to their ankles during a TSA patdown because the idiot TSA makes everyone take their belt off.

BTW, do they make you take suspenders off? I haven't tried that yet.

No agreement can require officers to ignore the law, or create the "Constitution-free zone" that some TSO's have said exists.

Asked in another thread and to my recollection, always troublesome when predicting the TSA, and the answer was "no." The metal clips may set off the WTMD, but the rule is, shoes and belts off and nothing in pockets. YMMV.

Others have reported cognitive dissonance from the TSA over pants that have their own sewn in and non-removable belt as well.

Absolutely, IAH is up there with IAD. I have stopped going through E, the elite line is a total joke. It takes forever to go through the screening. I like C much better and take a walk to E.

My wife and I often enter C and go upstairs and take the walk to the connector link near the parking garage to E. They seem better there and the line is usually very short.