FloridaSam

I’m trying to figure out whether to file a formal complaint regarding a TSA pat down of my 8 month old baby.

I was flying out of PBI (West Palm Beach) with an 8 mo. old. I had three-four bottles of sealed formula with me. I took them out of my diaper bag and put them in a separate bin (as I’ve been instructed to do in the past).

I was flying without my husband, it was just me and baby. This is baby’s seventh flight, so at this point I am well familiar with TSA baby rules regarding screening, formula, etc.

I'm through security and I noticed the tray with formula got pulled aside. I waited. Thereafter a female agent inspected the formula.

Then said agent came around the table/glass divider and said I will need to pat you down. I asked why, she said because your formula is not opened. I assumed she meant since the formula was sealed she couldn’t test it, if you open premixed formula you have to use it within an hour so you can’t open it, although on the six prior flights I’ve been on with baby this has not been an issue, and I fly primarily out of PBI. Rather, in the past, the agent has taken the outer shrink wrap off the formula bottles in part or in total and then put it in some machine (the formula has not been opened, but some type of testing through the bottle after the overwrap is removed). She continued to approach me, did not read/go through the normal script about do you have any sensitive areas, I’m going to touch you here and there, do you want a private screening, etc.

She saw I was holding my baby and directed me to put her down. At this point I started responding in a more forceful manner. I asked the agent where would you like me to put the baby, and she asked where is your stroller, me – I don’t have one. Where is your car seat, me – already checked (remember I’m flying by myself so I’m trying to limit the stuff I have to carry). At this point she starts judging my parenting choices, telling me its not safe to fly without a car seat, etc. (my baby was flying as a lap baby which is perfectly permissible). Eventually she says I will have to pat the baby down.

At this point I completely lose my cool and do a major freak out. I failed in that I did not ask for a supervisor, and instead this woman patted me and my baby down while I screamed profanities at her. After the pat down she walked away, I did ask another agent for her name and she came striding right back over and said I’m officer ______ ______. I said in a loud voice you are not an officer, you are an agent and I will be filing a complaint.

So, I do want to file a complaint, b/c I believe she violated several rules but I’m somewhat afraid to do so b/c I assume TSA will just make my life more miserable once I’ve filed an official Complaint. Thoughts? Suggestions? Is it possible to file a complaint without giving my name and get a response?

mikeef

Hi, welcome to FT.

tl;dr: file a complaint, but don't expect anything.

The TSA is not going to make your life miserable if you file a complaint. In fact, you'll be lucky if anyone even pays attention to it. I'd advise filing the complaint and using your real name.

They should have kept their hands off your kid and truthfully, there's no reason for a pat down of anyone. I've been where you are, with a TSO insisting on patting me down on the basis of unopened baby formula. Why one has anything to do with the other is beyond me. Obviously, your parenting skills are none of her business.

Where you're going to lose sympathy here is when you started swearing at the TSO and insulting her. Even if they were to pull a tape to see what happened, you wouldn't come out of it looking particularly good.

Mike

GUWonder

Make the complaint, but the complaint most likely won't achieve anything as the screener seems to have followed a SOP used for such situations where the liquid testing is substituted by swabbing the owner of the liquids and the owner is in contact with another screening subject during the pat-down of the pat-down subject.

If you want an even more interesting experience, try being a single parent with two very young children without a stroller or car seat at the screening checkpoint when the TSA has you down as a haraSSSSment target and is running you as a haraSSSSment target. That is a case where the TSA has violated one or more of its SOPs, but there too the USG doesn't do much of anything about even such complaints.

When dealing with these petty little Napoleons, the advice is to keep your cool and not give them any excuse to point the finger of blame back at you when you mention your dissatisfaction with their behavior. Cursing out the screener isn't going to help your voice to resonate like it should.

Boggie Dog

I would do two things, possibly a third.

One, call the local office of one of your elected Senator or Representatives and ask for their assistance in addressing this issue. Constituent Services is one of the things these people are fairly good at.

Second, file your complaint with the DHS OIG.

https://www.oig.dhs.gov/hotline/hotline.php

If you are still in the mood file a complaint here, link is mid page.

https://www.aclu.org/tsa-pat-down-search-abuse

chollie

This is apparently SOP for TSA, at least at some airports. Perhaps GSOLTSO could let us know if it is SOP at GSO - or not - that information is probably SSI.

From other (non-SSI) reports, if a parent traveling with an infant refuses to open containers for testing, the response is a full grope of a member of the traveling party. The accounts I've read usually involve two parents + kids, so one parent takes care of the kid(s) while the other one submits to the grope. Whoever developed this policy never traveled any distance with young children.

If there's only a parent and an infant and there's no safe place to store the infant, then I guess you both get the grope. Otherwise, while you're being groped, you could supposedly transfer your contraband to the baby without the groper or any of the other TSOs, LTSOs, STSOs, and BDOs standing around noticing anything.

That said, you're not allowed to respond in kind to these people. Doing so gives them complete justification for any kind of punitive retaliation. Their game, their rules.

I wonder what happens in this situation if the gender of the child and the gender of the parent are not the same? Is a male TSO allowed to stick his hands in a baby girl's diaper? We have seen female TSOs groping young (school age) boys.

Often1

Here's a better option. Forget it and move on. The Officer followed SOP and TSA isn't going to change it. If nothing else, you can expect heightened procedures with the new TSA leadership.

Will you be blacklisted or dragged off to Guantanamo for complaining? Probably not.

GUWonder

Awful suggestion, for it's silence in the face of unnecessary, ridiculous governmental intrusion in the lives of one's self and/or of others that is the handmaiden of the enemies of (non-mobocracy) democracy.

The TSA supporters love silence. The TSA should get the criticism it deserves, including by way of complaining to elected and appointed officials about the ridiculous TSA war on water and other harmless liquids.

petaluma1

That should have nothing to do with anything; any screener worth his/her salt, will let that behavior off his/her back and TSA management should not consider such behavior on the part of passengers to be a reason to not look into a complaint of mistreatment.

I swore at someone at DMV the other day and let him have a piece of my mind about the imposition REAL ID puts on innocent people while any person determined to do so, can get around REAL ID. I was not retaliated against; the clerk said to me "you can write your governmental representatives about your feelings", all while keeping his cool.

TSA clerk certainly had absolutely no business commenting on OP parenting choices, as you said

petaluma1

No, the TSA did NOT follow procedures. The clerk went off track when she commented on the mother's parenting skills.

petaluma1

^ ^

FloridaSam

Thanks for the multiple responses. I think the TSA agent did violate protocol in how she approached me, did not provide proper explanation, did not discuss how I would be patted down, how baby would be patted down, etc. She was also unprofessional when she criticized the fact that I didn't have a stroller or a car seat (neither of which are required).

If a pat down was necessary since I had unopened formula (and since I've flown out of PBI before with unopened formula I don't think it was necessary, as they have previously tested it w/o opening it, by taking the overlay off [but not breaking the cap seal] and putting it in a machine) then explain what you are doing in a professional manner and go through the standard speech. In this instance I probably would have opted for private screening as there might have been a place for my baby as I did not want a stranger touching her.

Yes, I lost my cool, but frankly I was glad several people heard what was going on. Three people later came up to me in the boarding area to express their own outrage, one woman said she really wanted to say something to the agent or offer to hold the baby but was afraid to.

petaluma1

"...she really wanted to say something to the agent or offer to hold the baby but was afraid to."

Sadly, that is exactly the TSA wants people to feel. They don't want passengers to work with them, but to be intimidated by them and the faux uniforms.

Boggie Dog

Would certainly be nice if the public could verify that the TSA screener followed SOP. I guess in secret government societies that isn't likely to happen.

MaxBuck

As someone with a good friend in TSA, this is absolute nonsense.

I don't claim there aren't people within TSA who are on power trips; that's an unfortunate problem with any police agency (and TSA is at some level just that), and it's worse when the staff aren't paid very high wages. But the suggestion that it's a goal of the agency's management for passengers to be intimidated is just flat false.

I have no problem with people debating the need for TSA, and I'm myself distressed at what freedoms we've lost in the past 14 years. I also have no problem with valid criticisms of the agency, which needs to do a better job. But let's get real.

Boggie Dog

Even with their fake cop uniforms TSA screeners are not the police and they are trained to use imtimidation as a tactic.

As far as pay for TSA screeners I believe it is very generous for a job that doesn't even require a high school education.