There is evidence that screeners are paid 'rewards' by cops who seize cash and other valuables. They have an incentive to look for it and report it, SOP or not.

This behavior is contrary to the public interest.

First of all, I consider any secondary screening a delay, even if it is 10 seconds for a TSO to pull a "forgotten" bottle of water out of your bag. When you meet the criteria for a secondary screening of any sort, which is described in our SOPs, the TSO or BDO is required to complete the screening protocol as set forth in the relevant SOP, and then send you on your way.

At no point are you required to talk to us, although few passengers actually choose to stand mute. Under no circumstances is it acceptable for a TSO or BDO to keep you at the checkpoint longer than is required to screen you in order to make you talk or make you miss your flight. Under no circumstances is it acceptable for a TSO or BDO to intentionally delay screening in order to make you talk or make you miss your plane.

Depending on your circumstance, however, you might get better results from "participating in the screening process." (Personally, I hate this bit of government speak.) For instance, if you are in a hurry due to circumstances which are not reflected on your boarding pass, I would have no way to know this unless you tell me. If you do not wish to engage in small talk, I have no way to know this unless you tell me. If you wish me to start checking your property while you are being wanded, I have no way to know this unless you tell me. If you have property which requires special handling, I have no way to know this unless you tell me. These are all circumstances where an extra sentence or two of conversation can have a direct effect on how long it takes to complete secondary screening.

Please note, you cannot be referred for any additional screening simply for refusing to talk to a BDO or any other TSA employee. If you believe that this has happened, demand to see supervisors until you get proper resolution or someone who tells you that there is no higher supervisor in the airport. If the second circumstance happens, take down all information you can get, including names, if possible, and start calling people who are not in the airport at your first opportunity. The more quickly these issues get reported, the easier it is for the bosses to take appropriate corrective action.

If you request a name from any TSA employee, including BDOs, the only appropriate response is "Yes, sir. I am ..." Nationally, there seems to be a lot of conflicting information about what information we are to provide in this circumstance, but at the least you should be able to get employee name, time of incident, and location of incident. If ANY TSA employee refuses to provide you with information upon your request, start demanding to see supervisors. If you do not get anyone who gives you a satisfactory resolution, take down as many details as you can about the incident and report it to local TSA management as soon as you can do so.

I would also recommend the "Got feedback" function TSA recently started. (You can click the link from the TSA public website or the TSA blog.) The emails generated with this function go to local TSA management, and they are required to take it seriously, respond if asked, etc. Of course, it's a new initiative, so long term effectiveness is still an open question.

Sorry if this turned in to a bit of a rant. You hit on another of my pet issues with TSA

Many passengers refuse to engage in smalltalk with us. Usually they are busy, or they hate TSA. In my experience, none have been terrorists. The most any of them have been trying to hide was a tube of Carmex. I told that passenger he shouldn't need to hide it.

TSA's role is to prohibit the carriage of prohibited items. Unless the items being carried and/or anything worn/carried by the pax activates the WTMD, the pax has no reason to do anything except wait until those issues are satisfied. Standing there mute, by choice, is not refusing to participate in the screening process. Why does the pax have to tell the TSO that they do not wish to engage in small talk? There is a clear implication that the failure to engage in conversation in some way creates the justification for additional screening, even if not warranted by the results of the primary screening.

Thank you.

Actually, I have gotten a much warmer welcome than I expected. I also think that all US citizens should consider anything related to DHS suspect.

As to comments directed towards me, I read the TOS, and I trust you and the other moderators to see to any issues related to TOS violations. Personally, I am happy to use the same standards I apply to people at the checkpoint (no threats of personal violence, and keep it clean if kiddies are around)

This is why I finally felt pushed to join FT and start this thread. TSA has chosen to communicate information about BDOs through press releases and officially sanctioned non-news reporting. I have not, in my opinion, seen enough direct, honest communication with those in the public who question this program. We are restricted in what we are supposed to say to people who ask about SPOT, and those BDOs who are sufficiently intimidated by the official restrictions tend to sound like more TSA trained mouthpieces.

I still haven't found any official answers to these questions. TSA doesn't seem to see fit to explain itself on this one. If I manage to find something relevant to this line of discussion, I will post a link.

I'm sorry, but I just had a waking nightmare:

TSO/BDO "I called you because this guy has a bunch of IDs from different
jurisdictions. The names all match, but the addresses are different. Check him out."

LEO *rolls eyes and walks away*

Fortunately, at my airport any BDO who did this would find his behavior quickly corrected.

In my opinion, this is an area where TSA owes the public and official explanation. As was stated many times, it is not illegal to carry large amounts of cash, and there are many innocent explanations as to why a person might have a large amount of cash on their person. (It should certainly not be in checked bags.) I have no explanation to offer, and as part of my promise to be honest and treat you all as thinking adults, I will not make something up.

I will continue to research this issue and, if I find something relevant, I will post it. In the meantime, I also want to respond to the other issues/concerns raised on this thread to the best of my ability.

I hope you took this evidence to the US Attorney's office, the GAO, TSA HQ, DHS HQ, and any news media outlet that will listen. This behavior is ABSOLUTELY unacceptable. It is a violation of the administrative search responsibilities of TSA, it is a violation of the oversight responsibilities of TSA, and it is a severe violation of public trust.

First, the passenger's person is screened via WTMD. The passenger's property is screened via X-ray. Both machines require human operators to make sure that they work properly, and to identify potential security vulnerabilities.

You are right that the passenger is not required to do anything but stand mute and wait until any additional screening requirements are completed. You are not required to tell a TSO anything. Some TSOs might even figure out what you are doing after 5 or 6 questions. As I said, if you do not tell me you don't want to talk, I do not have magical or psychic powers which will give me this information. If I don't know that you prefer not to talk, I will try to talk with you, if nothing else, out of boredom.

Incidentally, I have had a few passengers tell me that they do not wish to speak with me. In each case, my response was, "Okay, you don't have to talk to me. If you have any questions or comments, just let me know." I then continued with the required screening in silence. In each of these cases, the passenger restarted conversation within less than a minute. If you have the willpower to stand mute, good for you. That doesn't change my job. I screen you according to the requirements of my SOP, and I try to make sure you get to your airplane on time.

Again, if you believe you are being subjected to retaliatory secondary screening, pursue the issue. TSOs and BDOs must be able to account for their actions. If they are behaving inappropriately, they are most likely to be caught during the screening or immediately after the screening. If they are behaving inappropriately, they deserve to be caught.

So you should no problem in presenting us this smoking gun evidence (sworn statements,names,dates,locations,circumstances)tha t TSOs are accepting 'rewards'. I mean you are doing this in the nations best interest right? So share.

From Ron Marsico's recent column in the Star-Ledger:

Star-Ledger

Drawn to our attention by FTer Andy1369.

I e-mailed the author of the above-referenced column and asked him to either retract or clarify his statement, which he refused to do. I don't have access to those e-mails as they are on an account I can't get to from where I am now, else I would give direct quotes.

It was pointed out to him that it was NOT illegal to carry sums over $10,000 domestically. While he acknowledged that one could carry such sums out of and into the country by completing the proper paper work, he refused to acknowledge that it was perfectly fine to carry them domestically. He also refused to issue a clarification to his statement to that effect and in fact wrote "I stand by my statement" or words to that effect.

As we all know, the TSA's website says:

It is my belief that this reporter has bought the TSA's untruth hook, line and sinker and was not even willing to research the matter so he could provide the paper's readership with accurate information.

This has led me to believe that he is not acting as an independent reporter but rather as a mouthpiece for the TSA.

It's interesting to note that although the TSA's website says it's illegal to carry sums over $10,000, on another page it outlines the procedures required to take such sums into and out of the country. Of course, I can't find that page at this time :( - the search terms I put in the last time I looked for it don't bring up the correct page and neither does entering other search terms, making me wonder if that page has disappeared from the TSA website.

So - TSA rules require screeners to report an activity that isn't illegal.

Do you really not understand why people dislike DHS and TSA so much?

Citizens may have the right to demand to know the statute(s) which is being applied. However, as the Gilmore case demonstrated, the government (DHS/TSA) will simply refuse to do so. Sadly the 9th Circuit chickened out totally on this point and went off on some legal tangent opened by Gilmore's invocation of the 1st Amendment.

I wouldn't expect any other court (SCOTUS maybe) to force disclosure either. They are turning a collective blind eye to the rape of the public's rights by the DHS/TSA.

So what this tells me is that when traveling internationally out of a terminal that has domestic and international departures, always print a forged domestic boarding pass. Thanks for the tips.

I'm confused, are you a BDO or a TSO ? I thought BDOs engaged in 'small talk' with terro.., sorry passengers prior to entering the checkpoint, but from the above it sounds like you operate during the screening process itself.

I might talk to you while I'm being screened, but not before.

Yes, please.

Mainly the baggie incident. It was germane because the TSO there explicitly said the 1st amendment didn't apply at a checkpoint. :rolleyes: There are other airports that have a much longer list of horror stories (DFW and BOS come to mind).

If it's anything like what our BDOs are going through, expect a trip to San Diego to visit with the FBI for a week or two regarding identifying fruadulent documents, as well as a trip to Nashville for five days in some training rather ominously called "Interrogation and Interview."

Hah, really? When the hell did that start, and why aren't they doing anything of the sort at Huntsville? :D We've had several drug busts and the like, and the only 'reward' we've ever recieved is... well... nothing, really. We just get back to work. What evidence do you speak of? The airport public saftey guys get a reward (IIRC, I think one of them said that it was the street-value of the drugs added to their department funding), so to speak, but not us extras in the white shirts.

And, for the record, it is SOP that it's to be reported. There's no justification given for it, no reasoning, and no training regarding it. It just is.

negative on that one.

any person may travel with any amount of cash on their person within the united states and/or any of it's territories-period (is it wise, not but it is 100% legal). it is only when cash in excess of $10,0000u.s.*** is being transported into or out of the united states or any of its territories that it must be declared and reported

i think you (collectively re: screeners as part of the s.o.p not you personally ;)) have been duped (yes i'm using the word duped) into looking for the "big drug money catch". you see a "large wad" of cash, call a leo, leo brings the puppy and the puppy smells drugs-bingo a press release.

****btw, did you know that it also applies to foreign currencies where the exchange rate causes the amount to exceed $10,000u.s. just wondering if part of the training is to keep current on the the currecny exchange rates and have them at the checkpoints to verify that it is over $10,000u.s. ;)

[QUOTE=studentff;10244174] On the other hand, TSA has their lovely "consensual," "administrative" searches (that you can't back out of :mad:) that travelers are essentially forced to submit to.

It is indeed a "consensual administrative search" that you most certainly can indeed "back out of." If you choose not to allow the search, you just have to find another way to travel. Irritating to be sure, but quite within the constraints of the Constitution.

The idea of reporting large amounts of cash to LEOs relates to both efforts to counter funding of potential terrorist groups and the efforts to counter bulk cash smuggling of illicit drug operations. Don't want to have coppers notified about large amounts of cash...simple, don't take it to the airport with you.

TB