TSA Saves Us From A Bookmark
 

Now it's not safe to mark a page anymore:

"Kathryn Harrington was flying home from vacation last month when screeners at the Tampa, Fla., airport found her bookmark. It's an 8.5-inch leather strip with small lead weights at each end.
Airport police said it resembled a weighted weapon that could be used to knock people unconscious. So the 52-year-old special education teacher was handcuffed, put into a police car, and charged with carrying a concealed weapon."

http://www.local6.com/news/3738885/detail.html

Go figure.
:confused:


ab53

You didnt finish
 

Charges were dropped and the TSA isnt likely to file penalty. It appears as though they thought that it was a BOLO or a SAP. But hey we caught two guns last week and you dont hear about that. Only mistakes...

Anybody have a picture of this deadly bookmark?

How generous.

Woops. They really need to get out more.

Yippy! Does that justify the entire organization's existence?

Also, will I now be considered a suspect if I have a pair of long socks and a bar of soap in my carry on luggage?

This entire episode is pathetic.

Sarcasm
 

It a shame that in this world you can be a hero for five minutes but make one mistake and you are branded an idiot for life! Woops they need to get out more? I think that is not the case. There are thousands of items that are considered weapons. It is not possible for any one person to be aware of them all. I can show you pictures of items on x-ray view that you would never even imagine are weapons. A bar of soap wont show up the same as a lead weight. You bet that finding two guns justifies our existance. If we would have missed them then you can bet we would be put down for an eternity. The bad thing is that if you say that you took something on a plane that was prohibited and got away with it then by your own admission you can be subject to fine. Also you dont seem to be hearing too much about the guy that came back from IRAQ with all the bad things in his baggage and got caught at JFK. Its only the mistakes that get the biggest hoopla. That aint right. Its an enigma.

Fine. So you ask the lady (politely) what that item was. When it is determined that it is a silly bookmark then let the lady mail it home or whatever. Don't lock her up.

Yeah, I think the screener that called the cop, and the cop that arrested her are complete idiots. Mistakes by authorities that put people in jail shouldn't be dismissed so quickly. Nobody thinks about the poor 51 year old special ed teacher and the psycological trauma she probably endured (not to mention becoming somebody's speciial friend while in lockup).

And congrats for finding the two guns this week.

Were they found by people intent on taking down a plane? Or was it somebody who forgot to put it in his suitcase? (personally, I think people are pretty dumb when they forget where their guns are; but I know some cops that forget it a lot).

TSA needs to learn to apologize. Sure we all make mistakes. But instead of saying they "probably won't impose a fine," some administrator in DC and the local FSD should have come out and said "We apologize to Ms. Harrington for our mistake and for the humiliation she endured. While there is no way we can completely restore the dignity lost in this incident, we assure her than no sanction will be imposed and the screeners at this airport will be retrained in what constitutes a 'threat.''"

See how simple that would be?

And it would shut up (most) of the complainers. And it would be the right thing to do.

This one clearly falls in the aw-sh*t category for TSA and the airport police. I can understand how a bookmark would look suspicious in the x-ray. Keep in mind that we only see metal and, depending on the machine's resolution and operator skills, the outlines of whatever is non-metal. Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that, but I won't elaborate into those details. The point is that I've seen what resembled daggers on the x-ray turn out to be bookmarkers. However, we didn't arrest the owner for attempting to carry a concealed weapon.

I can understand the TSA screener doing the bag search notifying the screening supervisor if he or she wasn't convinced that the item was a bookmarker as the teacher claimed. And I can see the TSA supervisor notifying the airport LEO if he or she couldn't tell if it was really a bookmarker or not. However, the LEO is empowered to exercise a lot more discretion than a TSA supervisor, and that's where I have to wonder what went wrong. Again, not trying to exonerate the TSA supervisor in this situation. I just wonder what prompted the police officer to whip out the cuffs unless this was some sort of S&M attempt to seduce the teacher. (OK, poor taste.)

Yeah. TSA dropped the ball on this one.

Only idiotic mistakes brand people as idiots. Mistakes that are immediately corrected on the spot brand people as responsible, compassionate and possessing of common-sense.

Yes many items can be considered weapons. That in itself does not make the item a weapon for the purpose of criminal law. In cases were an item has a purpose, other than as a weapon, common-sense and questioning should be used to determine the proper disposition of the item and treatment of the passenger. The charge of "concealed weapon" makes absolutely no sense in this case as this item could only be considered a weapon for criminal purposes if it was actually used as a weapon or if intent was demonstrated to use it as a weapon.

What a bunch of goons.

Bart, I'm not calling you a goon. But the people involved in her arrest are goons. Pure and simple. Complete Idiots.

You aren't a goon. The morons who did this to her - They are goons.

Thanks
 

I firmly believe that people should have to take an IQ/Alzheimers test before they get a gun :D Intent in these cases is always murky. When I was a police officer, I never forgot my gun.

A Useful Phone Number...
 

I submit that Ms Harrington might find the following phone number and web page quite useful in the near future:

http://www.thecochranfirmno.com/cochran-contactus.html

"Stewardess in a Noose"
 

I am reading the 911 Commission report. I don't have it with me right now. But I recall a quote, from a commercial airline captain, in which he says (referring to pre 9/11 rules of engagement) "I would have opened the cockpit door if you told me that you had a noose around the neck of my flight attendant."

How many items, currently allowed onboard planes, could be used as a noose? Belts, rope, plastic bags covering newspapers (I could fashion a *very* strong rope), the elastic in the seats, etc.

This actually raises what *I* think is a valid question. If the 9/11 hijackers had used nooses around the necks of flight crew and/or passengers (maybe even killing one or two), instead of box cutters, what would be the "reasonable cost benefit security restrictions" by which we would currently live?

1) Hardened cockpit doors (done);

2) New rules of engagement saying not to surrender the flight deck to a hijacker under any circumstances (done);

3) More FAM's on planes (done);

4) Security check points and new airline restrictions which would make it impossible to have on an airline any item which could be placed around the neck of a human being in a threatening manner??????????

In case folks haven't seen it, here's a picture with this story - http://www.sptimes.com/2004/09/17/Hi...me_Totin.shtml

Looks like one of a Florida company's offerings - a Levenger bookmark.

Arrested. Jesus.

Monogrammed, too. Amazing. When common sense takes a holiday, it really takes a holiday.