JPT, read what you want into the post. I still don't see why every single reprimand/firing should be made public. I am sure that you would also want names so as to be sure that the right thing was done to the right individual. I am sure that the ACLU would just love that one.

Grandmothers, babies, pregnant women, etc. make excellent "mules." To ignore them completely would be idiotic.

In this particular case, I would say the TSA overreacted by closing down the entire terminal. This woman should have been thoroughly scrutinized though. As to her comments about feeling like a criminal, well she should feel like a criminal! It's her idiotic actions that caused the whole "ordeal." It is because of fools like her the TSA wastes our tax dollars at many checkpoints around the country with two or more people paid to simply guard the exits.

[This message has been edited by TransWorldOne (edited 03-06-2003).]

The 71 year old woman made a mistake and you call her a fool and blame her for the security nightmare the TSA has become? The TSA wastes our tax dollars because they are incompetantly managed from the top to the bottom. Do you really think the sole purpose of those people guarding the exits is to catch people who go the wrong way? I thought they were there to keep would be terrorists from gaining access to the secure areas of the airports.

------------------
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

TransWorldOne....take a deep breath and think this through. Here you have a 71 year old lady who suddenly remembers she has forgotten an article of clothing and turns around to retrieve it. She probably doesn't travel often and isn't totally aware of recent airport security changes.
She wanders a few yards into the secure area, never out of sight of TSA....and their reaction is to call in bomb sniffing dogs, close the terminal and haul her to the police station??
What dastardly criminal act did she commit that leads you to believe she should hang her head in shame??

This article is biased in my opinion. I have watched people do the same thing as this lady and I have escorted them back to where they needed to be. The exit lane monitor(s) did not have this lady under observation until someone realized that there was a breach of security at the exit lane then things got stupid and then the checkpoint was shutdown. Piss poor communication and loss of control of the situation. Why they took her to the police station is what baffles me.

Again, please note:

As for explaining away this woman's actions, perhaps Richard Reid had a perfectly logical explanation for his shoe bombs. Should one be able to talk their way out of security breaches? While hauling her off to the police station was an overreaction, as was closing the terminal, she certainly should have been scrutinized to verify that she was, in fact, benign. Once the fact that she was a sweet old lady who was just a little discombobulated was verified, she should have been assisted to retrieve her item. Only then.

I'm sure some families in Italy might disagree.

TW1, we've finally gotten to the point on this forum where even tsadude and ACES II are occasionally listening to reason..... <-added to keep peace in the "family".....and now, I guess, we have a little work to bring you around as well.
To begin with, all Richard Reid had to say of any consequence is that he would like to lick Osama's boots if given a chance. So we can take him out of this equation.
As to the little old lady, what you say SHOULD have happened DIDN'T happen and that's the whole argument in this case. There was a severe and totally uncalled for overreaction in this case. The TSA has to look at every incident of a security violation as a unique event and apply common sense and thought to each instance. The use of overwhelming force....police, bomb sniffing dogs, terminal closure, etc....applied to a 71 year old lady trying to recover her clothing is, IMHO, totally uncalled for.

If there was a breach of security, I would want them to check out the entire area. The TSA guys are in a no-win situation here. If they have a security breach and don't check out everything and something happens, imagine how much more vitriol you guys would spew then. Given the current atmosphere with things going on in Iraq, and threats being made that as soon as we attack, various cells in this country (we know they are here, thank you INS) it is only prudent that we keep our eyes open and check out everything.

Have you gotten to the point where you can "occasionally listen to reason?"

My points are two-fold:

1) Yes, IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, the TSA overreacted.

2) When there is a security breach, the TSA has the responsibility to swiftly analyze the situation and come to a point where it can make an informed decision as to whether the breach is or is not a threat and if any further action is necessary.

Do you think confused old ladies should have carte blanche at the airport?

While I am no great defender of the TSA, DOT, Bush Administration, and so on, someone needs to police the security checkpoints of our airports. And that someone needs to take action when security breaches occur. I don't like the random stupidity employed so frequently in our security process. Closing down the terminal and hauling the person off to the police station was not a good decision in this case. But the person in question, who breached security, should have been assessed to determine whether or not she posed a threat.

And that assessment should have taken maybe 10 minutes and could have been done on the spot. Do we agree?

Bruce