United States airport screener uniforms, what should it look like
Oct 16, 2016, 9:05 am
#16
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Another thread here in the TSS board recently linked to an article on the Business Insider web site, discussing the TSO academy. I also did a little Googling and came up with a behind-the-scenes at the TSA academy story on CBS.com with extensive video of the academy. And I noticed what everyone was wearing:
TSOs in training are apparently issued uniforms at the academy which closely match what we have been discussing in this thread - light-blue polos with the DHS seal (a rather chilling perversion of the Great Seal of the United States that looks like it was designed by Albert Speer) over the acronym FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center); navy blue cargo pants which resemble the military-issue BDUs of the 80s and 90s; navy blue web belts which also resemble military issue belts from the 80s and 90s; black shoes (hard to see them in the images and videos), and matching navy blue logo-imprinted windbreakers.
Instructors wear a similar uniform consisting of a black polo and tactical khaki pants. I saw several different sets of pants and belts on the instructors; looks like they have some leeway in choosing 5.11 brand or something similar, and I saw a couple of different tactical belts on instructors, too.
I like the overall image presented by the trainee uniforms, other than the DHS logo (that's a completely separate issue), but I wonder what happens to this clothing after the 9-day course is over? Is it collected and re-issued to incoming trainees (a rather unsavory practice)? Or do the trainees keep it, never to use it again after they're issued their TSO rent-a-cop uniforms upon graduation?
Personally, I'd love to see TSA implement a new uniform and just start issuing TSA-imprinted polos, BDU pants/belts, windbreakers, and shoes at intake. The cost of the clothing, whether it's kept by the trainees or re-issued, is definitely part of the $2400 the stories quote as the cost of the academy training, but I don't think we're getting max value out of it, especially if the trainees keep it after graduation.
TSOs in training are apparently issued uniforms at the academy which closely match what we have been discussing in this thread - light-blue polos with the DHS seal (a rather chilling perversion of the Great Seal of the United States that looks like it was designed by Albert Speer) over the acronym FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Training Center); navy blue cargo pants which resemble the military-issue BDUs of the 80s and 90s; navy blue web belts which also resemble military issue belts from the 80s and 90s; black shoes (hard to see them in the images and videos), and matching navy blue logo-imprinted windbreakers.
Instructors wear a similar uniform consisting of a black polo and tactical khaki pants. I saw several different sets of pants and belts on the instructors; looks like they have some leeway in choosing 5.11 brand or something similar, and I saw a couple of different tactical belts on instructors, too.
I like the overall image presented by the trainee uniforms, other than the DHS logo (that's a completely separate issue), but I wonder what happens to this clothing after the 9-day course is over? Is it collected and re-issued to incoming trainees (a rather unsavory practice)? Or do the trainees keep it, never to use it again after they're issued their TSO rent-a-cop uniforms upon graduation?
Personally, I'd love to see TSA implement a new uniform and just start issuing TSA-imprinted polos, BDU pants/belts, windbreakers, and shoes at intake. The cost of the clothing, whether it's kept by the trainees or re-issued, is definitely part of the $2400 the stories quote as the cost of the academy training, but I don't think we're getting max value out of it, especially if the trainees keep it after graduation.
Jan 10, 2017, 5:52 pm
#17
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I never accused you of anything. I said someone that would vilify any person that was incapable of stepping up in a incident of this nature, deserve to be vilified themselves. I never distorted your words, I never placed any words in your mouth, I merely indicated some possible situations if untrained people try to step up during an incident of that nature. Anything else you take from my post is simply in your interpretation - not an implication.
One of the reasons I disagree with you, is because of the training most unarmed federal employees get = run, hide, fight - with fight being an extreme last resort. Another reason is, I personally do not expect anyone with (no tactical training, no weapons and) no good option past "get out" to do anything other than "get out" is, it is unreasonable. It is simply unreasonable to expect untrained, unarmed civilians to face an armed individual bent on doing harm to people - especially if those people have the option to flee and remove themselves from danger. People that do step up are to be commended, and recognized.
As for gratuitous insults, there are no insults in what I posted.
One of the reasons I disagree with you, is because of the training most unarmed federal employees get = run, hide, fight - with fight being an extreme last resort. Another reason is, I personally do not expect anyone with (no tactical training, no weapons and) no good option past "get out" to do anything other than "get out" is, it is unreasonable. It is simply unreasonable to expect untrained, unarmed civilians to face an armed individual bent on doing harm to people - especially if those people have the option to flee and remove themselves from danger. People that do step up are to be commended, and recognized.
As for gratuitous insults, there are no insults in what I posted.
Jan 10, 2017, 6:04 pm
#18
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TSA changed uniforms and use the label 'officers' to project 'authoritay'. They reinforce the public's perception of their 'authoritay' by their use and abuse of that 'authoritay' at the checkpoint, including conducting 'freeze' drills at active checkpoints. In a time of crisis, the public will naturally look to uniformed 'federal officers' for guidance.
Just as schoolchildren will look to the adults in the school for guidance. Hopefully the kids won't be looking at the fleeing backs of those adults for guidance.
I wouldn't look to an airport Starbuck's employee for guidance, but they aren't folks who constantly remind me that they are trained federal officers, they aren't dressed to look like police/military, and they aren't empowered to order me to 'freeze' or to deny me access to the sterile area of the airport.
Jan 10, 2017, 6:41 pm
#19
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Jan 14, 2017, 5:53 pm
#20
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Jan 14, 2017, 8:40 pm
#21
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There was no insult in those remarks only a statement of opinion. Many people have issues with TSA screeners being called "officers" and wearing fake cop badges and uniforms. I think you know this too. You may not agree with those opinions but they are just as valid as any other in support or not.
Jan 14, 2017, 8:47 pm
#22
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There was no insult in those remarks only a statement of opinion. Many people have issues with TSA screeners being called "officers" and wearing fake cop badges and uniforms. I think you know this too. You may not agree with those opinions but they are just as valid as any other in support or not.
Jan 14, 2017, 8:59 pm
#23
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They wear badges and uniforms. They are not fake cop badges and uniforms. They are TSA uniforms. You may not like them and feel that it is too easy to conflate them with law enforcement officials. I don't like them, either, for that very reason. That does not make them fake anything.
Jan 15, 2017, 12:42 am
#24
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They wear badges and uniforms. They are not fake cop badges and uniforms. They are TSA uniforms. You may not like them and feel that it is too easy to conflate them with law enforcement officials. I don't like them, either, for that very reason. That does not make them fake anything.
Jan 15, 2017, 6:14 am
#25
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The uniforms and metal badges were chosen to try to provide them with the aura of being law enforcement officers with related authority. I don't hold much hope for fake cop style uniforms and fake cop style badges for airport screeners ending at all US airports at some point this year.
Jan 15, 2017, 10:30 am
#26
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In my workplace (and others like it), we have bi-annual catastrophe/evacuation drills and no one - I mean NO ONE - is exempt from the drills. There are dedicated people who are expected to take a role in co-ordinating evacuation or shelter-in-place.
No authority-projecting uniforms, just a readily identifiable hat and flag, and a willingness to step up and take responsibility if needed, even though personal risk might be involved.
Funny thing is, even as a kid, we had similar drills at school. The last thing the schools wanted in time of crisis was everyone screaming and blindly running around. Kind of funny, looking back. We'd be practicing fire drills, and the emphasis was to make as orderly an exit or shelter-in-place as possible.
Kind of like what flight attendants try to ensure during a flight evacuation.
Desk jockeys, school teachers, flight attendants - they're all expected to do better than run for their lives in a crisis. But TSA's 'academy' teaches 'every TSO for him/herself'. SMH.
Jan 15, 2017, 8:33 pm
#27
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Jan 15, 2017, 11:09 pm
#29
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Passengers complain about rude treatment, inflexible rules, long lines and seemingly illogical and inconsistent policies. One thing they don't tend to take issue with, however, is the uniforms. They don't say things like, "Please make the screeners look more like real police."But that is exactly what the TSA is doing, outfitting frontline employees with new gold badges and royal-blue shirts as part of a broader effort to improve their image and make people, to put it bluntly, hate them less.
....
The move has some scientific evidence to back it. Psychologists who have researched the effects of official-looking uniforms and badges find that they do indeed tend to make people more compliant. "Our research shows that people respect individuals who wear uniforms, and do what they say," says Brad J. Bushman, a professor who studies aggression at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.
...
By the end of the year [2008], all 43,000 screeners should have the new uniforms, which cost a total of $12 million.
...
So far, the biggest complaint about the new uniforms has come from real police officers, who fear that giving TSA screeners badges might confuse the public into thinking the airport personnel are police officers. A former Kansas City International Airport police officer remembers pulling over a TSA screener for speeding on airport property. The screener tried to talk his way out of the ticket by showing the officer a cloth TSA badge, which he kept in his wallet. "They'd start the whole brotherhood thing, thin blue line, and all of that. I'm like, 'You got two weeks of training. I went to 22 weeks of the police academy. Sign here.'"
....
The move has some scientific evidence to back it. Psychologists who have researched the effects of official-looking uniforms and badges find that they do indeed tend to make people more compliant. "Our research shows that people respect individuals who wear uniforms, and do what they say," says Brad J. Bushman, a professor who studies aggression at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.
...
By the end of the year [2008], all 43,000 screeners should have the new uniforms, which cost a total of $12 million.
...
So far, the biggest complaint about the new uniforms has come from real police officers, who fear that giving TSA screeners badges might confuse the public into thinking the airport personnel are police officers. A former Kansas City International Airport police officer remembers pulling over a TSA screener for speeding on airport property. The screener tried to talk his way out of the ticket by showing the officer a cloth TSA badge, which he kept in his wallet. "They'd start the whole brotherhood thing, thin blue line, and all of that. I'm like, 'You got two weeks of training. I went to 22 weeks of the police academy. Sign here.'"
Blackburn said TSA had spent more than $1 million in taxpayer money on badges alone since 2009. Worse, she said, evidence is mounting that TSA screeners often abuse the impression that they are officers with authority, and noted some cases of rape and other abuse of passengers that has led to dozens of arrests."These are reasons enough we need to take them out of their uniforms, disallow the uniforms and put them back to their job title of airport security screener," Blackburn said in Thursday debate.
She added that the American Alliance of Airport Police Officers favors her amendment and are "tired of the TSA's mission creep."
She added that the American Alliance of Airport Police Officers favors her amendment and are "tired of the TSA's mission creep."
These new uniforms didn't come cheap. Taxpayers give TSOs more generous uniform allowances than a combat Marine lieutenant. Keep in mind TSA's incredibly high turnover rate. On top of that, taxpayers are paying for new 'training' uniforms for all TSOs when they attend the 'academy'. These are not TSA uniforms, just clothing they wear at the 'academy'.
The Transportation Security Administration agreed on a deal last month [2013] worth as much as $50 million to buy new uniforms for rank-and-file agents, despite concerns that imminent budget cuts would result in furloughs and 90-minute flight delays.
...
Blackburn also is taking issue with a union-negotiated deal in which TSA security officers get a higher uniform allowance than combat Marine lieutenants, who receive a one-time allowance of $400.
...
Blackburn also is taking issue with a union-negotiated deal in which TSA security officers get a higher uniform allowance than combat Marine lieutenants, who receive a one-time allowance of $400.
Last edited by chollie; Jan 15, 2017 at 11:21 pm