I flew home for Christmas and was "randomly" searched both directions of the STL-DCA rt. The way home, I was nailed because I was the one closest to the screener when he began screening. He just reached for the closest person to him (who was a white male with a small carry-on), and picked him (me) at random. On the return trip, I was seated in the middle of the boarding area. The woman actually pointed to me when I looked up and motioned for me to get over there for the rubber glove treatment. When I got to her, I said "You had to pick me, didn't you?" The male screener heard that and said "She picked you because of these." He pointed to my "Proud to Fly American" button and small carry-on. He actually told me that they like to pick people who look nice and don't have a lot of stuff.

This leads me to my conclusion and topic. It seems that one may greatly lower their chances of being searched if they:

1) become a woman (this probably shouldn't be your 1st line of defense)
2) bring a lot of stuff with you onto the plane
3) show up to board near the end of the boarding process

Any others?

Do what so many other Americans, leisure travelers and business people alike have done.

* * * DON'T FLY * * *

Sad state of affairs we have caused ourselves, don't you think?

They shouldn't call it a "random" search.

The US INS requires visa for passport holders of all countries with about a dozen or two exceptions. They based the exceptions on the percentage of illegal aliens. People from countries like Switzerland don't need to come to the US to pick strawberries.

On a similar note, selected searching is much more effective. Criteria could change as the terrorist profile changes.

Let's look at the math, oversimplifying and increasing the %. Say 1% of the public is dangerous, but 5% of the men from a certain country are terrorists. Say there are 10,000 ordinary people and 100 from the high risk group. Search 100 passengers and you are likely to miss all 5 of the high risk terrorist (5% of 100). Search 80 of the passengers and 20 of the high risk group and you may catch 1 of the 5 terrorists.

It's not random if they are deciding who to pick. That's continuious searching, which is different. Random is when the software randomly generates people to search, which is different then profiling people to search. There are three different selection processes, be it next person in line when there is a space, software identifying you as a potential terrorist, or the software using some random number generator to choose people.

Before you leave for the airport, look in the mirror and ask yourself "Do I look like a terrorist?" If the answer is yes, you'll be fine.

Anyone who knows how to decrease the chance of a search should not post that knowledge.

Quote:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> It seems that one may greatly lower their chances of being searched if they:
1) become a woman (this probably shouldn't be your 1st line of defense)</font>

Doesn't work if the searcher is a skanky male who wants to look and play with your underwear.

------------------
I Love New York

I was "randomly" selected at ORD 3 days ago even though I had a brief case and a big fat backpack. I definitely wasn't traveling light.

The random searches you complain about pick the shoe bomber and determine that he shouldn't fly?

The security company was right on. (The French authorities then bungled it and let him fly after being told by the security company not to, twice on two separate days. But that's a side note, as the random searches we're talking about did work in this case).

d

I was randomly serached because I was the only one in the area when exiting customs, and then I was the first one that checked in. I think to avoid random search, be as late as possible but still enough time to make it.

I had to take my shoes off 3 times for my last trip, yet other people never had to take them off, and there were people who were more suspect looking then me!

JRF, I can one up you on the shoes. At the CO security check in DAL (its one gate for an ERJ every two hours, one xray, one metal detector so its small and not many people) I had to take off my shoes FOUR times to the SAME security guard. Go figure.

I really think it is a bad idea to post information like this on a public board. The terrorists can use the internet as well as we can.

I dunno about NOT getting searched, but I did figure out how to ensure that I get picked every time.

The first was quite by accident. I was just bored at the gate and found myself staring (by accident, I assure you!) at one of the gate security folks. When she made eye conact, I did what most americans do and looked away (thats one of the things I love about Paris...staring is a sport!). Next thing I knew, I was pulled out of line at the gate reader. So at ORD, I stared at security on purpose, BAM, got it again. Then stared again at TPA: BAM. DEN: BAM. Etc, etc.

This worked 8 out of 8 times. Now that I know how to ensure that I will get searched at the gate, I'm thinking of putting something very personal and embarassing in my carryon. You know, a big blow up sheep or something.

Hey, fun is fun!!!!

But, clearly, these searches are not random and I stumbled onto one of the profiling keys.



[This message has been edited by kokonutz (edited 01-08-2002).]

Oh, please! Does anyone really believe that REAL terrorists are going to learn anything here that they don't already know? Get serious.

Bruce

When I was in London in December, the movie on TV one night was Airplane 2. The scene where people carry weapons through with no problem, but a little old lady gets buzzed, seems to be spot-on commentary...