ediemac1

Last Thurs, while waiting for my bag at baggage claim, I observed 3 TSOs in the claim area.

A pair were standing about 6 feet from the end of my carosel. I thought they might be BDOs, but they were looking to the left of where the people were gathered and chatting. Just standing in one spot, chatting. They did, however, leave when all the bags were claimed and the area cleared. (Mine was misplaced, so I was there til the bitter end).

A couple of minutes after I noticed the pair, I saw a single TSO, gloved, examine the area. By that, I mean:
- lifting the lid and peering into trash and recycling bins
- moving the leaves around and peering into the potted plants
- going into an alcove that houses a fire extinguisher and maybe a defibrillator

The pair and the single did not acknowledge each other, even though they were only a few feet apart.

I've spent some time in the claim area and never seen any TSA staff there. Looked like 2 make work projects for sure!


Still wondering why in the heck, if there was a suspicion of something bad hidden in the potted plant, the dude was going after it with gloved hands and a passel of passengers nearby! Gloves must be made of the same material the the garbage cans that make explosive toiletries inert are made of....

InkUnderNails

It is the gloves and the material used in the bags on Warehouse 13. He was looking for artifacts.

ediemac1

Well, he most certainly did not look like Pete!

WillCAD

He was probably wearing something like Bela Lugosi's belt or carrying Ian Flemming's pen or something that allowed him to alter his appearance at will.

BubbaLoop

Diagnosis: Trying to look important to justify their jobs.

gsoltso

The potted plants in GSO are often a place of tossing items on the prohibs list, we have found several variations of weapons, to include functioning guns (LEO handled that one), knives and other things that not allowed through the checkpoints. I look through the plants here (especially near the checkpoints) on a somewhat regular basis just to make certain that no weapons are left for grabby kid hands to get.

Sam I Am

Actually, I'd rather they do this than waste time re-checking already cleared bags/people at yet more stupid gate checks...

sinanju

Which would be much less of a problem if the US had amnesty bins as they do in many other civilized places with strict controls certain items. Singapore comes to mind, with amnesty bins directly under large signs that say "Death to drug traffickers"

coachrowsey

Now my question, do you get to keep the knives ?

FliesWay2Much

This image from my formative years comes to mind:

TheOneTheOnly

Thread title might should instead be: "tsa manages something marginally useful"
Randomly looking into hiding areas like that isn't actually a bad idea, doesn't intrude on ANYONE's rights or privacy and may actually deter or in the worst case, find a potentially destructive device.

OldGoat

The incentives of this story interest me. Is there a penalty of some type for discovery at the checkpoint, or is the passenger allowed to mail the item home? If the former, the passenger is incented to put the item in a potted plant, where you say it poses a danger to others. Allowing the passenger to mail the item home removes the incentive, and creates a safer world for us all.

InkUnderNails

Note to self: Start checking the potted plants on the way OUT of the airport.

TheRoadie

I'm astonished that potted plants aren't a prohibited item near checkpoints, since they can and HAVE been used to stash weapons. Remember the Portland incident?

Out of concern for the children, IF NOTHING ELSE, why, O why does DHS allow potted plants and trash cans to be placed near the checkpoint?

Boggie Dog

Gotta have the dust bins, where else would TSA put the binary liquid bombs confiscated at the checkpoint?