Was this an idle threat by TSA?
 

A few months ago, I had a run in with the TSA at DFW that ended with the screener telling me, "I remember you from last week. You don't deserve PreCheck and shouldn't have it." The funny part was, I hadn't actually done anything wrong (nor had I been through DFW the week before), but I did do something that set her off.

My PreCheck is by virtue of Global Entry. Can/will TSA revoke the PreCheck part for something that was not remotely against any kind of rules? Has anyone run into a screener with an apparent personal vendetta against them? Does such a screener have the authority to mess with a traveler's trusted traveler program? Can this affect my Global Entry status?

No screener would ever have authority to affect someone's Precheck or GE status. However, I'd love to hear the rest of the story. As most of my TSA interactions involve absolutely no verbal interaction I'm curious what you could have done to set one off.

I would think a single screener could not summarily get a passenger booted out of a program, I doubt they have that authority. They could file a report of some sort that, depending on the nature of the real or perceived passenger behavior or offense, could upon review by a proper authority result in loss of the Trusted Traveler status. I too wonder at what would even closely approach a significant enough event, or apparently maybe two separate events, that could provoke the described reaction. Generally I don't exchange much more than casual pleasantries, and sometimes not even that, with most screeners. DFW is a big operation with literally thousands going through security during a typical shift. Over a week or more that number would approach astronomical so to get noticed and remembered would be no small feat.

The long version...I forgot about a sippy cup of water in my diaper bag. Since I'm against the idiocy of liquid testing, I asked to toss the water instead. The screener took the cup out of my view to dump it, so I asked her to please toss the entire cup. She surprisingly understanding of that request, but when I asked her why she didn't use one of the 6+ garbage cans within view, she asked me how I'd like to empty garbage cans full of liquid. I told her it was an airport, and the garbage can were probably all full of liquid from drinks that people dumped. She didn't like that answer, and gave her response from my original post.

But, like I said, I hadn't even been through DFW the week before, and I very rarely have interactions with screeners. I remember the screeners I do have issues with...she was not on the list before this.

You never know.

A screener at PHX monitoring the xray belt exit swore up and down she knew me and saw me there all the time. She was wrong. I do fly PHX, but that was the only time I'd flown in/out of T4. I asked if she worked the other terminals and she insisted she didn't and she had seen me at her station in T2 many times before. She started getting a bit warm about it, and frankly, it made me uncomfortable. I couldn't wait to get away from her. She all but said I was lying.

What can I say? She was wrong.

Which only kind of proves my point that a screener accurately remembering a passenger from a different date and time, and in this case security point, is more than just a crap shoot. What's a bit disturbing is that in your case she wrongly "remembered" you and that could be an issue for a passenger if the faulty memory was of a bad event. Interestingly my wife and I fly out of SAT all the time which is really a small airport and indeed a few of the TSA folks recognize us. Luckily it's in a positive way.

Okay, so let's recap here.

1. You were found to have a sippy cup of water in your carry-on, in violation of TSA's (nonsensical) rules.
2. The screener offered to test the water, in accordance with TSA's (nonsensical) rules.
3. In response, you asked to screener to dump the water --- which TSA employees are not supposed to do. The screener agreed to your request.
4. When the screener attempted to voluntarily comply with your request in a way that displeased you, but which you had not specified, you cancelled your first request and asked the screener to discard the cup. Again, TSA employees are not supposed to discard items for passengers; passengers are supposed to do that for themselves. The screener again agreed to your request.
5. After the screener performed your requested action, you asked the screener why she didn't perform the first request the way you had assumed she would. She gave you an answer, which showed that she was trying to be considerate for the cleaning staff in the airport.
6. You disliked her answer and challenged her reasoning. She disliked your answer and challenged you.

Sounds to me like the screener was trying to be professional towards you, violating TSA rules left and right, until she finally snapped unprofessionally at you. Yes, she shouldn't have lost her patience with you. But, sitting here safely behind my computer screen, it seems to me like she showed a lot of patience with you right up until that point.

Oh, come on now.

1. Where does the OP state that the screener offered to test the water?

2. Where does it say that screeners are not supposed to dump liquids for passengers?

3. I wouldn't want the cup back either once the screener took it out of my sight.

(bolding mine)

???

Since when? I have never been required (or allowed) to discard items myself. The only times I have ever been allowed to dispose of the item myself once I entered the checkpoint was when I requested to be escorted back landside to dispose of it.

Something doesn't add up here.

The screener emptied the cup out of sight of the pax (where?) but then didn't want to throw the empty cup in the provided trash cans? Is there another liquid-friendly trash can somewhere else that the TSO has to walk over to every time s/he confiscates LGAs? Who would set up such a stupid inefficient system?

You note that screeners aren't allowed to empty liquids from their containers, something the screener did - then you commend that rule-violating screener for behaving like a 'professional'? I don't know about your line of work, but in my workplace, violating rules right and left isn't a sign of professional behavior.

If the details are correct, the screener was acting odd. I can only suspect she wanted to mess with the pax's mind (also unprofessional), because nothing else makes sense. That would also explain the comment about the pax not deserving Pre (also unprofessional).

Yeah, I don't know what the history was between her and the pax she confused me with, but she was clearly looking for trouble. I'm glad I never fly out of that terminal and I hope she never moves to T2 (which already has enough aggressive crazies on staff).

If a TSA screener ever challenges your honesty unjustly its time to call for a manager.

That's a pretty bold statement from the screener. Even better since they were wrong.

Since you only travel once or twice a year at most, and aren't enrolled in PreCheck, can you explain what personal experience/knowledge you're using to formulate your judgments?

Thanks.

Not that it matters, but the filled cup was placed in my diaper bag without my knowledge...I certainly know the rules.

The screener did tell me she had to test it, and I said I wanted to dump it instead (per my previous post). I did not ask her to dump it for me, and yes, when she didn't hand it back, I assumed she'd dump it in one of the 6 trash cans within view. You know, like I would have been expected to do had I caught it prior to entering the checkpoint.

In any case, threatening a passenger is pretty unprofessional, don't you think?

They challenger the honesty of every passenger when they accuse them of bringing contraband on board.