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Originally Posted by oklAAhoma
(Post 7208383)
Oh, OK. Looking back I can see it that way, too.
Sorry, Wally Bird. :o |
I used to live in Indiana, an area quote prone tornado activity. Therefore to have advance warning, and as recommended by virtually every public-safety organization, I kept an NOAA "alert" weather radio that would set off an alarm for severe weather activity in my county. I have it programmed to avoid spurious alerts (i.e., those for other counties). One morning in 2005 the alarm went off at around 2 a.m. for an Amber Alert for a child who had been abducted more than 125 miles away (abduction way south of IND; I was in W Lafayette). What possible use could waking up residents hundreds of miles away be in recovering this child? Did they really expect me to get dressed and go prowl my neighborhood? Tens of thousands of sleeping residents use these radios for personal and family safety. I did some quick research and I think you can buy radios you can program to alert you only for what you want to be alerted. There are some three-letter codes broadcasters use. Somebody in Denver doesn't need to get hurricane warnings and someone in Maine (usually) doesn't need to get tornado warnings. I haven't bought a radio yet but plan to. However, I will re-think the purchase (despite all the good things) if I can't turn off government agencies that have "abducted" NOAA Weather radio. |
Here's another thought to consider ...
Far more children die each year at the hand of drunk drivers than from stereotypical child kidnappings? So if having the TSA involved in Amber Alerts is good, wouldn't it be even better to have them screening for intoxicated passengers? Is the life of a child killed by a drunk driver any less precious than a child abducted by a stranger? Forget, of course, that any pax entering the screening area wouldn't be behind the wheel for possibly 2 hours or more. Think of the children. |
Originally Posted by bocastephen
(Post 7185861)
With all due respect, as noble as the Amber Alert system is - the TSA screeners are there to secure the sterile area and our aircraft from items and persons germaine to aviation security. Let's put aside the issue of liberties for a moment.
As of now, the TSA screening force has demonstrated a threat detection failure rate well in excess of 50% - as high as 80%. This means they are not even coming close to fulfilling their mission. One of the myriad number of reasons they are not screening effectively is the number of different things they are looking for - many of which were never threats to aviation security in the first place or whose current threat risk has been reduced. We need these people to focus 100% on their mission and not get sidetracked by other attentions. Meanwhile, the mission itself needs a total and drastic overhaul. How about we make Amber Alerts available to everyone at airports, bus and train stations as well as the electronic signs on many urban highways and give everyone the option of paying attention and looking out for a missing child - and not add this action to the list of duties and tasks being performed by a group that has yet to pass muster on its most basic responsibilities. |
Originally Posted by hiltonhead
(Post 7214203)
If just 1 child is found over a 50 year period, then it was worth it...and if it were your child, you would agree.
Are real children killed by real drunk drivers less tragic than non-existant children abducted via commercial air transport? By the way, if you happen to know the name of even 1 child over the past 50 years who was the victim of stereotypical kidnapping and was then transported via commerical air transport, please provide the name and date. |
Originally Posted by Lehava
(Post 7185769)
But why would I expect this group to think about the people it is meant to save when they can use it as another excuse to rip on TSA.....please return to your spewing!!!1
Could you add a few more !!!!!! ... not sure I got your point yet. :rolleyes: |
Originally Posted by hiltonhead
(Post 7214203)
If they hit on a false I.D., it does not take much to compare the pic or confirm identification. I doubt this would be as traumatic as some have suggested.
... If just 1 child is found over a 50 year period, then it was worth it and if it were your child, you would agree. http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/ap...834BCGG0.shtml http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=328513 A white couple from Tallahassee, Fla., and their adopted daughter were ordered off an airplane because police were concerned they had abducted the Chinese toddler. Richard and Ruth Feiock said the actions of police were bigoted and that they may file a civil lawsuit against Erie International Airport. ... Race was not a consideration when the couple were asked to get off the plane, said David Bagnoni, director of public safety and chief of police at Erie International. "The baby was screaming, 'Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,' and fussing, trying to get out of the hands of the woman holding her," he said. "I'm sorry they had to miss the flight, but I don't care if the baby was white, pink, blue or whatever color. Two people in particular voiced concern that the baby might not belong to them, and we had to check it out." Police questioned the couple for 15 minutes while officers from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services examined their passports, Feiock said. The officers then called the Children's Home Society of Florida, the agency that handled the child's adoption. The Feiocks missed the Erie flight and were forced to take a bus to Cleveland to fly from there. Do you think the Feiock family felt it was "worth it?" How many cases like this are you willing to tolerate every month so that "1 child is found over a 50 year period?" Why not just institute checkpoints at all highway interchanges to save 1 child every 50 years? Or wake up the entire state in the event of an abduction (see my previous post)? Where do you draw the line? Encouraging power-hunger power-tripping TSAers to get involved in these tyes of cases would be a disaster. Anyone who deals with the DHS/TSA "security" machine at all knows that the false positives are going to completely overwhelm any true catches, and then TSA is going to issue press releases describing the false positives as success. Think no-fly list, ETD machine, etc. I'd be willing to be good money on a worse than 1000:1 harassment-to-success ratio. (Of course, the harassment cases will never be fully documented, so it's impossible to prove the ratio.) How many of these alerts are going to be issued for "5' 10" brown-haired white male, mid-30s, traveling with brown-haired white 6-year-old boy?" How do you think TSA will respond to such alerts? (Hint: fathers in their 30s flying with kids won't be flying that day.) "Think of the children." :rolleyes: A very dangerous phrase, which like "post 9/11 world" and "abundance of caution," needs to be abolished from the vocabulary of decision makers. |
I think it would be better to put up monitors everywhere with the amber alert displaying on it when it happens. Even in the restroom.
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I think there is a higher probability of the child being transported by a bus than a plane.
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Originally Posted by hiltonhead
(Post 7214203)
I think the point is being missed here.
... The potential for good in this case outweighs the potential for bad. That being said, I pray that the TSA does not figure out a way to screw it up royally as they have on some of their past plans. The TSA does not have to figure out how to screw it up, it will happen by default. |
Every year hundreds of children in the US are killed by unsafe toys. Many of those toys had been subject to safety recalls, but were still in use.
The TSA screeners are in position to view children and their toys. Therefore, we should make use of the TSA screeners' powers of observation to identify such unsafe situations and avoid these needless, tragic child deaths. Think of the children. |
Originally Posted by EasternTraveler
(Post 7214604)
I think there is a higher probability of the child being transported by a bus than a plane.
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Originally Posted by tom911
(Post 7200474)
That group of 115 is the one I'm most concerned about (kidnap victims), and want to see the word get out to as many people as possible.
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I think of the children and think this is a wonderful idea. At least the children whose parents are well enough off to fly will be saved:D We should put the TSA at the bus station and the police station to help the poor. :D
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Every year hundreds if not thousands of children suffer in need of bone marrow transplants. Bone marrow transplants are effective treatment assuming a donor can be identified in time, but unfortunately too few potential donors either are aware of the need or are willing to be tested.
The TSA screeners are in position to interact with millions of americans, provide leaflets at the screening portals and conceivably take mouth swabs for use in DNA testing. Therefore, we should make use of the TSA screeners' powers of communication and examination to promote bone marrow donor and to reach and identify potential donars. Think of the children. |
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