Let me clarify.

At the WTMD, you have the option of removing your shoes, if they meet the screening criteria. Shoes that meet the screening criteria can be screened either by x-ray or ETD sampling.

However....

if your shoes alarm the WTMD on your first pass, the screener can explain that your shoes caused the alarm. (There's an indicator panel on the screener's side of the WTMD that lights up in the area of the alarm. It's not 100% accurate because sometimes a pack of cigarettes stored inside someone's socks or a cell phone inside a lower pocket such as one of those cargo shorts that are popular today will also indicate an alarm in the same area as the shoes.) You have the option of either removing the shoes (since you now KNOW that they alarmed the WTMD) or undergoing secondary screening.

At secondary screening, if your shoes alarm the hand wand, those shoes have to be x-rayed, and your feet have to be hand-wanded without your shoes on (if you are sockless, then all that is required is a visual...unless you're wearing very saggy trousers that cover most or part of the foot...the screener would then be screening the top of the foot and ankle). You may request that screening not resume until your shoes are returned. I have had some disagreements with my own peers on this point; they believe that someone could theoretically slip a prohibited item back into a shoe if permitted to put the shoes back on before being completely screened. As a master of diversion and concealment in my former profession, I find this theory laughable. The SOP does not specifically address this point. I think it's good customer service as well as common sense to allow a person to put his or her shoes back on after the feet have been either hand-wanded or visually inspected before continuing to screen the rest of the body---if the passenger so requests. Most people, about 99% of them, just want to get it over and done with and aren't interested in putting their shoes back on until the hand-wanding is complete.

If your shoes did NOT alarm the WTMD but you are referred to secondary screening because they met the criteria, then all that is needed is an ETD sampling of your shoes. However, there's a catch to it: you cannot have any contact with anyone who DID alarm the WTMD or else you'll have to undergo the Full Monty as well. We try to segregate passengers who alarmed from those who did not; but our goal is to immediately respond to those who didn't alarm because all that's required is a simple ETD sampling of the shoes.

If you're wearing medical shoes or cannot remove your shoes for medical reasons, the SOP allows us an alternative screening method.

The issue is, has been and will always be clearly understanding the SOP. It disappoints me whenever I read that there are still screeners out there who don't know the SOP. I quiz my screeners daily with a "question of the day" (followed by a "Chuck Norris fact" just to start the day off on a humorous note).

Hope this clarifies any confusion on shoes.

Get the name of the screener, the name of the supervisor, and submit a complaint to the FSD and airport station manager. Again, the reason for getting the airport station manager involved is to exert some internal pressure on the FSD. The airport station manager is, for lack of a better word, the FSD's landlord and is interested in happy customers.

Certainly a lot smarter than b*tching about it online, eh?

And if there were any possibility, regardless of how remote, that something might actually come of it, don't you think I/we would??? How many complaints do you think HAVE been filed w/the TSA, FSD's, airport mgrs, airlines, the press, younameit, since YOUR agency came on-line about a myriad about problems, MOST of which, if not all, stem from 'failure to understand the SOP', as you put it??? I've filed a number of them, many of which I've outlined in this Forum as well as the response, if any, that's been rec'd (those on the receiving end of said complaints also appear to have a 'failure to read & understand the nature of the complaint' problem!) As you, yourself, have pointed out, the reasons for the continued & ongoing failure to recognize the most basic problems w/in your agency stem from lack of leadership @ the top (middle & bottom, in my opinion!), combined w/a complete lack of accountability of the agency as a whole for this 'failure to understand the SOP'.

CNN just aired this piece.

Either be part of the solution or part of the problem, pal.

So are you saying that the article's author was wrong in asserting that it's illegal to force someone to take off their shoes? What do you do if someone, saying they read this article, refuses to remove their shoes during the secondary?

People actually do that??

Note to self: NEVER bum a ciggie from someone who carries them in his socks.

Bart created a nice little screening world in SAN?? Not the SAN I know.

But I see Bart is in San Antonio, probably far enough from San Diego that he can't hear our screeners barking that all shoes MUST come off.

From what I can see, Bart lives by the rulebook or SOP and has difficulty comprehending that others do not. This is merely a statement of fact and not meant to be a criticism as surely more people who live by the SOP are needed in the TSA, especially at the screener/supervisor level.

He refers to his duty time and area as Bartworld, so it's certainly possible his little slice of checkpoint heaven is isolated from the rest of TSA hell.

Bart, I know others have thrown this out to you, and so will I. I will redeem an award on UA to get you to EWR thru IAD (with ample time in between for you to check out IAD) and connecting thru DEN on the way back, whenever you want.

If enough of us offer to fly you around the country, and you take us up on it, maybe you'll see we're not blowing smoke with what we say.

Super

If your shoes alarm the hand wand, they need to be x-rayed. You can always refuse to remove them. However, the screener is then unable to clear you, and this will result in you being escorted off the checkpoint and denied access to the aircraft. It may also mean intervention by law enforcement officers since they may have the basis for reasonable suspicion, but this may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. I, of course, cannot speak on the law enforcement aspects. From a TSA perspective, we were unable to clear you due to your unwillingness to cooperate.

LOL. Bartworld is something that has existed for me throughout my life. During all four of my commands, I made it very clear to my subordinates that they were now in Bartworld and I was their God; there were no other gods but Bart and Bart's Law was absolute. I've toned it down with my non-military coworkers in TSA, but the translation is the same. Whether I'm in charge at the checkpoint or baggage screening pod, they are in Bartworld. My screeners clearly understand this simple philosophy.

Bart follows the SOP, but Bart also reserves the right to make common sense intepretation of the SOP which may vary from the way other leads and supervisors interpret the SOP.

It's been a successful recipe for me throughout my life. Why fix it if it ain't broken?

If someone did not alarm at the WTMD, there is absolutely no legitimate reason why they should be subjected to the hand wand during secondary harassment. What alarm is being resolved? None.

Just one more example of the filth in charge of the TSA using passenger harassment as a substitute for airport security. Treason is all these filth are performing.

Read my post #16. You're taking a piece of what I said in response to someone else's question. Post #16 addresses your concerns more completely.

Sigh - I'm so boring. I don't leave it up to any of you any more. Life's too short; my time is more valuable & I have others to thank for protecting my liberties. Yes, Spiff will think I'm a wuss - I don't care.

I carry my nice F class LH slippers & take my (slip-on Cole-Haan) shoes off & put the slippers on in front of TSA. I pass through 'clean' (ie, didn't alarm the machine & don't have to take the slippers off), so no SSSS or any hassles.

And actually given I'm normally waiting for the bizness nimrods (as well as tourists) in front of me to empty their pockets (and they SAY that they travel a lot), it takes zip extra time on my part on either side.

Cheers.