http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...195330,00.html

This might be good news for the shoe carnival.

If it comes to pass, it will be my worst nightmare.

This will take harassment to a new level.

I suspect that "selection" based on "behavior" will be a demonstration of even more of the usual idiocy observable at airports.



.... and if this goes into place, I want lots of cameras at the airports and ALL of the video footage to be public domain, with all footage being stored for at least 7 years and all of that available, on demand, to any and all members of the general public.

Wait! Isn't the TSA already "conducted by trained personnel and closely monitored by supervisors" now?

This will be a catastraphy! They will hold people while they do background checks?

Get me a lawyer!

If this program is in place in BOS, it must be SPOTTY given that less than a month ago, in the first class screening line for AA @ Terminal B, the WTMD guy was shouting, 'We're looking @ ALL shoes today, folks'. The look on the face of the guy in front of me was priceless as he turned around to take off his shoes, but probably would have earned him a SPOT check had the specially trained SPOTTER SPOTTED it..

BTW-should we even try to guess how much some over paid consultant got for coming up w/the catchy title of SPOT?

Completely assinine.

Just another excuse to push people around and hassle the nonterrorists among us.

Apologists, of course, will disagree.

Idiots!!!

Not one terrorist mentioned.

.... and this was supposed to be about aviation security, right?

All the poor nervous nellie type flyers, first time flyers, disoriented old people will be the ones who will suffer from this program, not any well-trained potential terrorist.

Hope no one missed this in the article:

"Earlier this month TSA screeners not trained in the SPOT program pulled over three Marines in dress uniform for special screening. After being patted down and scrutinized closely, the Marines were finally let go and allowed to continue their duties � escorting the body of one of their colleagues killed in Iraq."

"changes in mannerisms" - don't you have to know a person's previous mannerisms before you can say that he/she has changed mannerisms?

This new focus might explain why I've been hearing more of the "engaging" questions from TSA the last couple of trips, especially when I decline their invitation to remove my non-profile shoes.

I'm fine with "have you enjoyed your stay", "nice weather we're having" types of questions, but draw the line at some of the more personal questions like, "where's home", "are you on a business or pleasure trip", etc. Within the borders of the US, what would be the repercussions of declining to answer those questions that I felt were none of TSA's business?

Answering a question with a question is always fun.

"Where's home?" "Come on, give me your best guess." "Nope."
"What was the purpose of your trip?" "Come, give me your best guess." "Not exactly."

... and so on.

Yes. Until NOW.

Good for you. I hate this weather.

None of YOUR business.

Pleasure. Weren't you the pole dancer at the club? Hmmm...you sure took pleasure to a whole new level...


Bad idea, TSA. Get your priorities right. Start off with a low hanging fruit - consistency. And no, being consistently inept and bad is NOT consistent.

It was supposed to be but evidently it is turning into something else.

"Here's how it works (on paper): Select TSA employees will be trained to identify suspicious individuals who raise red flags by exhibiting unusual or anxious behavior, which can be as simple as changes in mannerisms, excessive sweating on a cool day, "

changes in mannerisms: as has been noted, how do you detect a change in manerism the first time you see a person? Answer: You and TSA can't. Whatever that person is doing the first time you see them, that is their normal behavior as far as your observations are concerned. Period.

anxious behavior: How many pax are always anxious as they have a little fear of flying, fear of missing their connection if this TSA line does not move a lot faster, fear of not having enough time to stop by the CRC if this screening line does not move faster, fear of germs from the shoeless walk thru the MD, fear of having a screener paw through a bag and hold up in public a plastic object, declaring to the Xray op "No threat, just another battery operated Vibrating Personal Relaxation Device"?

excessive sweating on a cool day: Has the writer of these rules ever flown commercial recently? As in: I have a 40 min connection at LAX(I know, dumb as booking a 30 min DL connection in ATL at 5 PM on a Friday, but this is my hypothetical example, I reserve the right to be hypothetically dumb ), my plane was 10 min late, I just ran from terminal 5 to terminal 2 and am trying to go thru screening, darn right I'm sweating when its a cool day.

In addition to regular shoe carnival, SSSS and existing rules, this new rule makes almost every PAX qualify to be stopped I mean SPOTted in this "non race profileing program".

The look of the woman in the article is priceless

However, this is unacceptable:

According to Naccara, the SPOT program has resulted in the arrest of more than 50 people for having fake IDs, entering the country illegally or drug possession.

None of the above have anything to do with aviation safety or security.

Some sheeple will go along with this, but I am going to suspect about 10-15% of people, already fed up with the TSA, will return very hostile answers to these questions. Whereas I am not going to be rude to a screener who asks me questions, I am not going to answer - my answers will be fairly standard: "sorry, but that is not your concern and I am not going to answer your questions"

If I am sent to a LEO for interrogation for refusing to answer, I will be contacting the ACLU and I expect them to persue this...if they don't step up to the plate this time, they have become a useless organization and we need new people on the scene who are willing to stand up for privacy and liberty.

A big to this...we need to clean this "SPOT" up.