Does TSA test suspected controlled substances?

Hold persons carrying $10,000+ cash?

Impound water pipes?

Confiscate X-Rated DVDs?

Gag Halloween fright garb?

If the TSO feels that an item indicates a crime is being committed or has some directive stating that item is contraband then they can refer you to real LEOs.

So no the TSA does not test suspected controlled substances.
They will refer you to LEO for $10k+
They may ask that you "willingly" give up the pipe as they don't confiscate anything, or refer you to real LEOs.
Depends on how hot the DVDs are.
Most likely will take away your scream mask.

What was the point of this again?

Where does everyone keep getting the idea that porn is somehow prohibited?

...Huh? A Halloween... costume? What's the problem with that? We had a freakin' Darth Vader come through the HSV checkpoint once. He picked up his bag and went on his merry way.

Suspected paraphernalia are in the same category as actual drugs, TK. It's a call to the cops.

[QUOTE=HSVTSO Dean;11583428]Where does everyone keep getting the idea that porn is somehow prohibited?

TSORon keeps bringing it up by mentioning kiddie porn so folks might make the assumption that all porn is illegal.

What category is that, Dean? And how do you identify a substance as being an illegal drug rather than something that is suspected of such?

I've posed the following questions to West and Kelly on the TSA blog multiple times, but they refuse to answer. Can you provide any input?

[QUOTE=AngryMiller;11583438]Various states enact and enforce different laws.

"Paraphernalia" and "porn" are elastic, even problematic terms.

A "condiment" may be psychotropic.

A screener may consider an adult DVD too crude or its stars too young. And do or say nothing.

I'm just wondering if screeners are inclined to pass on borderline enforcement items that don't literally violate the carry-on rules. Don't jurisdictions overlap?

"Inclined to"? Absolutely!
but should they? Absolutely not!

Only in the minds of the screeners and/or those who make their policies at TSA HQ. TSA's "jurisdiction" is to keep off aircraft those things which pose an immediate threat to the physical safety of that aircraft: i.e. weapons and bombs. That's it, that's all. Cash, white powders, green leaves, magazines (porn or not, kiddie porn or not) and books (regardless of the language or content) do not pose any danger to the immediate safety of the aircraft and are none of their business. Undeclared cash in amounts greater than $10k going in or out of the country is CBP's jurisdiction. Drugs and kiddie porn are the jurisdiction of local and federal police, FBI, DEA, etc.

They've gone a long way down the slippery slope. Most people would agree they should report a severed human head, even though it's not a threat to aircraft. The argument is that any decent person would report that, gov't employee or not, which is probably fair. But where do you then draw the line? Some people think they should report substances that might (or might not) be drugs, for the same reason that you'd report the severed head. They're now bold enough to think they need to report legal things (like cash) just because there is a scenario in which it might be linked to illegal activities. Their justification is that they're just "helping out" the CBP. Next they'll want to browse through your magazines to see whether they've got kiddie porn, check the music on your iPod to make sure it's all legal and run a check on your children just in case you're a kidnapper. Just helping out the FBI, you know. The problem, of course, is many innocent people are harassed in the process (which is why the Constitution doesn't allow such searches) and that screeners don't have any of the required training for detective work.

The next step (and if you think this isn't coming you haven't been paying attention) is random searches of your car, home and business to see whether you have any illegal activities or possessions. Game over.

The test is "Does the material violate local community standards?" If it does, porn that violates local community standards is illegal. I'm certain there was a Supreme Court case that defined this standard. There could easily be an FSD out there who decides that anything worse than Maxim violated local community standards. Then, porn becomes contriband.

BTW, isn't your airport in a dry county? (I know the Greenbrier BBQ down the road from you is in a dry county.) If so, it would seem to me that alcohol could also be contriband.

The TSA just hasn't chosen to go there -- yet.

Not really. There's a couple of dry counties around us, but Madison isn't. There are, however, laws against selling alcohol on Sunday, which basically runs from 12am Sunday morning to 7am Monday morning (I think it's 7am; it's been a long, long time since I worked at Wal-Mart and had to deal with that).

But even aside from that, the way I understand it is that it's the same as the sex toy prohibition that the Alabama legislature passed - it's not illegal to own, it's just illegal to purchase.

I'm willing to buy that it could happen, given that local community standards bit (and I agree with you; it's there somewhere. I've heard about it before), but it's never happened in HSV and hasn't happened anywhere else for that matter that I've heard, either.

Anytime in recent memory that even child pornography has ever been discovered in a passenger's bag, it's been (a) in checked baggage, and (b) cleared by the screeners and later looked into by LEOs. In one case, for example, the passenger was discovered to have drugs on his person going through the checkpoint. The LEOs made the decision to have his checked-in suitcase pulled off the plane to search, wherein they discovered the child pornography.

I'm not too terribly keen on understanding specifically what you mean by overlapping jurisdictions. We can be in contact with almost any branch of law enforcement when we need to be - we have the numbers for local police on-hand, as well as the FBI and CBP and several others that we've never had to use - so when we find something that's arguably questionable we can notify the proper law enforcement agency. I'm just not exactly certain that's what you meant.

As for inclination, I and the screeners I work with don't generally seem very inclined to do so unless the SOP specifically instructs us to. This whole thing with large amounts of cash is over exactly two sentences in the procedures. It doesn't say anything about $10,000 or anything else; it just states that if we find a large amount of cash money to report it to the STSO. That's it. I had to actually discover the meaning behind it myself, through other information outlets. It actually does say more about drugs, but nothing that hasn't already been told to ya's by Blogger Bob: that while it's not specifically the role of the TSA, we as government entities can not overlook blatantly illegal contraband, blahblahblahblah.

However, that said, that's it. There's nothing in there at all about pornography, nothing in there about pirated DVDs, or, for heaven's sake Phil, animals without all their vaccinations. None of the above are even anything I've remotely cared about, primarily because TSA doesn't care about it either.

The only person in HSV who's ever made a comment at all about porn (aside from new people who're always shocked when they find it for the first time) is one of our LTSOs, a very religious person who calls it "spiritual hazmat." And that's it. He just has his own word for it, and then he does his job and sends it on his way.

It is, essentially, as Trollkiller said:


I wrote it right on there, Phil :P "It's a call to the cops." It's that category. It's the same category that guns and blasting caps and all sorts of other things are in.

And we don't identify a substance as being an illegal drug rather than something that is suspected of such, Phil. The "suspected of such" is as far as TSA goes, and then we refer it to the law enforcement professionals to determine if it actually is or not.

You do realize that's the sum total and whole of the entire screening process itself, right?

Clearly, the reaction to finding a severed head differs from spotting a suspicious white powder. A reporter from Darfur might be packing what a local jurisdiction calls a snuff video. Screeners who flag people and property operate within a jurisdictional patchwork. I'm not taking one side, just wondering whether standards and practices vary by station and state.

I wonder why the TSA SOP concerns itself with certain "blatantly illegal contraband," but not others, especially when one item of contraband under the SOP, cash, is not blatantly illegal.

HSVTSO Dean, I do appreciate you discussing these matters with the rest of us.

[QUOTE=AngryMiller;11583438]Kiddie porn is illegal in every jurisdiction in the United States. In most other countries as well. It is one of the only non-weapon/explosive related materials that is going to get an automatic LEO call.

Other porn, last I heard it was still covered under the freedom of speech amendment. We see it all the time, its just as common as dirty drawers.

TSORon

Phil,

Weaponized Anthrax appears to be a fine white powder. Several types of powdered explosives do as well. Think about that.

TSORon

And that is what the ETD's are for. No need to involve the LEO's unless you have a positive.

Have any TSO's been disciplined for failing to refer "drugs" or cash to a supervisor for further investigation?

[QUOTE=TSORon;11586236]Never trust cover art stating that "all actors are at least 18 years old."

Flag it.