Smuggle condoms at PHL-lawsuit
Jan 8, 2007, 5:21 pm
#31
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This story doesnt really state what exactly happend at the airport but I would assume the following. Person's items are x-rayed and TSO saw the suspecious substance. Item's then tested for explosives and come out negative.TSO decides to tip off the LEO that there is some suspicious in the condoms and chain of events then occurs in which the phl pd screws up. I fail to see how this is the TSA's fault? The TSO suspected something was wrong and reported it to the proper authorities. I fail to see why the TSO should not have reported it to a LEO?
cheers
howie
cheers
howie
"Oh officer! Look!!! This parking ticket is UNPAID...
"Screw that! "Tipping off" law enforcement is not the TSA's job.
Jan 8, 2007, 5:56 pm
#33
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I cannot remember the last time (if even such an event exists) where a citizen or government entity was able to hold the TSA accountable for something and extract some type of penalty.
I still think the key to ending these events is through legal attacks on individual screeners - once it becomes known throughout screenerland that they can be held accountable and the TSA can't protect them from a nasty legal bill, they will think long and hard before ever referring another passenger to the police.
Jan 8, 2007, 6:21 pm
#34
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I thought drug dealers had mules swallow drug-filled condoms to conceal the drugs from customs officers when traveling. Storing drugs in a condom in a woman's handbag doesn't sound too likely, or smart.
Regarding the woman's arrest record, if she was smart she had that expunged as part of her settlement.
Regarding the woman's arrest record, if she was smart she had that expunged as part of her settlement.
Jan 8, 2007, 7:12 pm
#35
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"Jeez guys, we've got a half million in coke here, but no baggies! Quick, go to the drugstore and buy some nonoxynol-9, lubricated, mint flavored glow in the dark magnums!"
Jan 8, 2007, 8:28 pm
#36
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cheers
howie
Jan 8, 2007, 8:35 pm
#37
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Putting the arugement about drugs aside for a moment how could the TSO know that the substance wasnt something that could be toxic if released in a closed enviroment such as an aircraft ? Now on the other hand I dont quite get how the PHL PD screwed this one up and I would be interested to know how when testing flour it came up as drugs??
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howie
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howie
As for the test...I think they were pushing for some way to make the test come back as drugs or a trace of drugs. That probably caused the delay. It surprises me that the PD didn't just mix in some cocaine from their crime lab and fake the results.
Jan 8, 2007, 8:37 pm
#38
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Putting the arugement about drugs aside for a moment how could the TSO know that the substance wasnt something that could be toxic if released in a closed enviroment such as an aircraft ? Now on the other hand I dont quite get how the PHL PD screwed this one up and I would be interested to know how when testing flour it came up as drugs??
cheers
howie
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The TSA screwed up by acting like government drug informants looking for their next drug fix, money for a fix or drug rep to be on the government dime.
An overactive imagination would lead to the TSA belief that all kinds of substances are to be presumed to be "something that could be toxic if released in a closed environment such as an aircraft". Then again, given DHS/TSA's perpensity to imagine terrorist threats everywhere due to "an abundance of caution"
, it's no surprise that they have failed yet again.
Jan 8, 2007, 8:43 pm
#39
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That's what the chemical trace analysis is for - if it was a harmful chemical, it would have alarmed. If this was an actual terrorist intending on releasing a dangerous chemical or biological agent onboard, they certainly wouldn't have hit it inside condoms. That would require making an assumption that all terrorists are suddenly as dumb and clumsy as Richard Reid.
As for the test...I think they were pushing for some way to make the test come back as drugs or a trace of drugs. That probably caused the delay. It surprises me that the PD didn't just mix in some cocaine from their crime lab and fake the results.
As for the test...I think they were pushing for some way to make the test come back as drugs or a trace of drugs. That probably caused the delay. It surprises me that the PD didn't just mix in some cocaine from their crime lab and fake the results.
Jan 8, 2007, 9:03 pm
#40
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Lets see who did the arresting....TSA or the PHL police.
So who made the final judgment call????
If I Joe Citizen go up to a police officer and tell him "hey that guy over there looks like he has a gun in his pocket" and then the police officer investigates and finds no gun should I as Joe Citizen be arrested for making a mistake?
If I Joe Citizen go up to a police officer and tell him "hey that guy over there looks like he has a gun in his pocket" and then the police officer investigates and finds no gun should I as Joe Citizen be arrested for making a mistake?
Jan 8, 2007, 9:09 pm
#41
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So who made the final judgment call????
If I Joe Citizen go up to a police officer and tell him "hey that guy over there looks like he has a gun in his pocket" and then the police officer investigates and finds no gun should I as Joe Citizen be arrested for making a mistake?
If I Joe Citizen go up to a police officer and tell him "hey that guy over there looks like he has a gun in his pocket" and then the police officer investigates and finds no gun should I as Joe Citizen be arrested for making a mistake?
If false claims are publicly advanced by government officials, then I wouldn't necessarily mourn the possibility for more serious sanctions.
Jan 8, 2007, 9:19 pm
#42
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So who made the final judgment call????
If I Joe Citizen go up to a police officer and tell him "hey that guy over there looks like he has a gun in his pocket" and then the police officer investigates and finds no gun should I as Joe Citizen be arrested for making a mistake?
If I Joe Citizen go up to a police officer and tell him "hey that guy over there looks like he has a gun in his pocket" and then the police officer investigates and finds no gun should I as Joe Citizen be arrested for making a mistake?
There is a big difference between the following two scenarios:
1) Hey officer, that guy over there looks like he has a gun in his pocked
2) Hey officer, that guy over there just took a gun from his pocked and waved it around
For 1), without proof of what's in the pocket, keep your mouth shut
For 2), it's fairly obvious you need to tell someone
Jan 8, 2007, 9:39 pm
#44
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Because yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater is illegal.
You can bet if I went up to the LEO at DEN and accused you or one of your team members of having some blow or a weapon in your possession, I'd be hauled off in cuffs.
You can bet if I went up to the LEO at DEN and accused you or one of your team members of having some blow or a weapon in your possession, I'd be hauled off in cuffs.
For its excellent use of a TSA screener's prior post to point out the inconsistencies that screener's thinking, I nominate the post above by LessO2 for Post of the Year!
Game, Set, Match
Couldn't agree more. If I walk up to an airport cop and say I saw a screener accept a bribe to permit a bomb or sawed-off shotgun to pass thru the checkpoint (completely without factual basis), I'm certain I'd be looking at hard time and some real fines. What's that about geese and ganders?
Jan 8, 2007, 9:48 pm
#45
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In fact, it was a "sworn" representative of the government.
Yes, the TSA has carved itself well out of any kind of accountability or responsibility. However, I would think that an FOIA request could be filed to find out who the TSA "hero" was (through videotape) and pursue civil action against her/him.
With power becomes responsibility. And there also comes consequences.
Same goes for the arresting officer and police department.
I hope a civil rights trial is pursued against the TSAer and the police officer individually.
