Your Rivets Have Set Off the Sensor Miss...
 

As posted before in a variety of threads, I used to (used to being the operative phrase) rarely set off alarm/be sent to secondary.

Now I get sent to secondary every time - even when wearing a variety of shoe types (some of which never set off the alarm before-those shoes didn't change - just the alarm).

And in secondary on a few occasions they have wand set so high that the rivets in my jeans sets it off! Hello? Rivets in my jeans? Now I realize I'm not as smart as some of you & bomb-making is beyond my capabilities, but what threat does the rivets in my jeans pose? They actually say to me miss, the rivets in your jeans has set off the wand, so I'm going to have to pat you down in those areas. Rivets - common sense? Did I miss something?

I've been pretty easy going on TSA (especially compared to some of FT's posters), but I have to admit I'm getting a bit cranky about this. I always get to the airport in plenty of time, so the extra 2-3 minutes isn't a big deal, and I'm polite vs being rude, especially on the rivet thing, but again, rivets???

The only thing (my small assertiveness) I do is refuse to stand on a dirty floor in bare feet. I tell them I'm willing to do the wanding after they've sent my shoes through the machine & I've put them on again.

So TSAMgr or other screeners, is it me or should you maybe set the wands (and for that matter the magnodetecters) down a bit? I wondered if the magno's had been set up for more sensitive cuz of the recent trusted traveller thing. Since 9/11 I can count (until recently) on 1 hand the # of times I've had to go through secondary - & now it's every time cuz of the shoes (and rivets). Again, the same shoes that have gone through plenty of times & never beeped once.

The wands haven't been set higher, there just held closer to the body then they were before.

As for the WTMD, can't ask us because we don't set the machines. TSA chose a nation wide setting and had the company input it in all WTMD through out the country. The company has to change it or a select set of contract workers. But that only gets done with TSA higher ups backing off the setting.

I honestly haven't seen a increase in rings at my airport. We know our machines and know what we need to have them take off to get through with no problem.

Thanks for the response. Maybe it's just me (and it's not you all), but I know that since 9/11 I can count on 1 hand (until recently) the times I've been pulled into 2ndary - and now it's every single time, even w/ shoes that worked before. So something changed. I still think the rivet stuff is stoo-pid. Yes, they're rivets - not bombs. We both know that - give me a break.

Part of my job is to ensure the day to day operations of the checkpoint including all the equipment. Any changes to any equipment comes through me.

Hand Wands are enclosed and do not have adjustments. Setting were done at the manufacturer.

WTMD can be adjusted but the keyboards are locked and I am the only person with the code. We have never been told to change the settings and I know of no other airport who has or would know how to change the settings.

The only thing that can be changed in the field on the X-Ray machines is in the testing system.

The manufacturers do come to do PM but do not change any setting. (different from the original)

You will shortly see lights on the side of the WTMD. They are being turned on to help the passengers isolate the area of the alarm. The screeners will not use this to just wand that area. They will have to complete the entire wanding process.


"Please don't kill the messenger"

I think there's a misconception about the purpose of secondary screening. We are not concerned that your blue jeans have rivets. Nor are we concerned that bras have underwires, belts have buckles, etc.

After asking you, the passenger, to remove all metal objects from your pockets or your person, we are giving you the first opportunity to avoid secondary screening with the hand wand. If you alarm the WTMD, we give you a second opportunity to remove anything else you may have forgotten. If you then alarm the WTMD, we have to conduct a more intense inspection with the hand wand. Before being inspected with the hand wand, you are asked, for the third time, to remove anything else that is made of metal. You are also asked if you have any sort of medical implants or other devices that could explain why you alarmed the WTMD. Then the hand wand inspection begins. The hand wand is designed to detect smaller metallic objects than would be detected by the WTMD and is held in much closer proximity to your body than is the WTMD.

When there is an alarm on the hip and we see three rivets sewn into the fabric of the blue jeans, we cannot assume that as the reason for the alarm. We must make sure that there is nothing hidden underneath the clothing that may be made of metal with the visible rivets serving as a diversion. So we must pat down the area to make sure that there is nothing else but the rivets that could possibly cause the alarm. The same goes for any other part of the body, and the most common areas that alarm that can only be resolved with a pat down are the underwire area of the bra, belt buckle and pants snap/zipper tab, name plates for those who wear uniforms and metallic buttons on some shirt styles. These areas are most likely to alarm because, as I said, the hand wand is held much closer to your body than the detector from the WTMD.

The WTMD will allow you to pass even with rivets on your jeans, underwire bras, pants snap buttons/zipper tabs and even intimate body piercings (see other thread for more on that) provided you take off all of the other removable metal objects first such as loose change, keys, cell phones, PDAs, gum wrapped in aluminum foil, cigarettes wrapped in aluminum foil, lighters, shoes with steel shanks (as well as shoes with thick soles...but that's a separate issue), and in some instances, heavy jewelry. However, TSA screeners are not to encourage you to remove jewelry, that is strictly up to you. IF you decide to remove your jewelry, place it inside one of your carry-ons before you reach the checkpoint. There's two reasons for this: one, thieves look for jewelry left inside of bins or the little white bowls, and there is no way for screeners to determine if the items being picked up belong to the rightful owner. Two, whenever passengers remove the smaller items and place them in the small divest trays, there is a tendency to forget about them and they usually pick up only their carry-on bags, leaving things behind such as loose change, wedding rings, necklaces, bracelets, cell phones and other small items they place inside the small white bowls after their first unsuccessful pass at the WTMD. By placing these items inside your carry on, you are less likely to forget them because you will definitely remember to pick up your carry on bag.

We screeners are subject to the exact same standard as passengers and other people who come through the checkpoint. If we fail to pass through the WTMD after two attempts, we must also undergo secondary screening with the hand wand. I carry a military unit coin inside my wallet, a coin purse with metal zipper and small amount of change inside my pocket, wedding band on my finger, metal name plate on my uniform, ball point pen inside my breast pocket, belt buckle and metal clip for my security badge attached to my shirt pocket flap whenever I pass through the WTMD every day that I go to work. The only thing I may have to remove is my coin purse if I happen to have too much change. I'll even push it by attaching my metallic key ring with cluster of eight keys attached and STILL make it through the WTMD, but that's really pushing the threshold and sometimes I do have to remove my keys. (I usually keep my keys in my locker only because it is more convenient to keep them there. My point is that the WTMD do allow you to carry quite an amount of metal objects on your person.) One last thing, if I'm wearing my TSA-issued Rocky shoes or have my old military low quarters, I can pass through the WTMD without a problem. However, I also wear Rockports because they're more comfortable than the other shoes, and I do have to remove them due to the steel shanks in the soles.

The problem is that most people don't realize how much metal they are carrying on their bodies, and either refuse to remove enough or fail to realize that aluminum foil IS metal or that many shoes, no matter how thin or the fact that the bottom is rubber, do have steel shanks inside the soles.

Bottom line: most people can avoid secondary screening.

...unless, of course, you happen to fall into the demographic of a non-threatening looking 50 year-old male traveling on business. Then, you are chosen nearly 80 % of the time using the limp reason of "We have to do continuous screening."

How about backing it up with some proof.

I can't -- it's SSI

I know my airport stopped doing the continuous screening long ago because of the SSSS. I also read on here from many of the TSA screeners and supervisors and a TSAMGR, that their airports don't really do it either because it's gotten to a point where it's impossible to do it.

You fly out of a slow airport on a frequent basis or something to be chosen for continuous screening 80% of the time?

Or, you can remove all metal objects from your pockets yet leave your shoes on in Denver or other shoe carnival airports, not set off the alarm, and have the rivets on your jeans subject to a pat down. I feel so *much* safer now!

If I am wearing jeans with a button fly and the metal buttons set off the alarm, do I have the right to demand that a female screener pat down the area?

Which, of course, leads to another question. If the female screener is attractive, while patting down the area she might discover a hard object under the buttons. What is the procedure after that?

You will not be allowed to fly like that. No pistols in your pockets allowed.

Why? Are they afraid they might accidently go off?

We, as screeners, have "NO" say so when it comes to this. Continuous screening is SOP...period....end of sentence. :rolleyes:

Prior to TSA, gender didn't matter when it came to wanding. Then the FAA later limited it to females being able to wand males but males could no longer wand females. During that time, I was escorting an elderly gentleman for secondary screening and advised him that a female screener might wand him. Before I could ask him if he had any objections, he looked across the checkpoint and said, "good, I'll take the blonde."