Instead of complaining about the TSA, bring up your concerns with local media. They love stories like this. Especially during sweeps. Just make sure to send the questions to the appropriate reporter (health, crime, money) Don't send to a station's general news address. Hopefully making a big enough stink might help.


Ask these questions

If liquids are a threat, why are ANY allowed in? What's to stop, Bill, Ted, and Mary Jane from combining their 3.4 ounces into something harmful?

What are the health risks of walking bare-foot through security?

How attentive could TSA be working all the OT they are working?

Why isn't 100% of the cargo being screened?

How much money could be saved (TSA man hours) if shoes/laptops didn't have to be screened separately.

Why do laptops need to be screened separately, but not other devices?

Why do FAM's stick out like sore thumbs?

And when the dust settles, ask why the TSA isn't destroyed for the un-American abomination that it is.

Baby steps...

Let the TV stations "Watch out for you!" or "Keep YOU safe"

Stir the pot.. alert the media

Laptops AND camcorders.

Do people seriously use the term "camcorder" anymore? What is the difference between a "camcorder" and a digital camera? My digital camera shoots video. Does it have to do with film?

Should i not ask that question outloud for fear of Papa Kip listening?

I "forget" to remove my camcorder and TSA often misses it.

I think you guys are missing my point.

Ask the local health reporter to look into "How likely are children to get an infection from walking bare-footed through the airport" or "How much radiation is a TSA employee being exposed to every day in PHX?"

Actually, there was a report done and it was posted on here awhile back. It wasn't pretty.

TSA has probably exempted itself from health regs too. It has already excused itself from the Privacy Act, HAZMAT disposal guidelines, etc.

How convenient for the TSA. I wish I could excuse myself
from filing my income taxes. I wish I could opt out of paying
Self Employment Taxes (Social Security). I wish I could.....
oh well, never mind. The rules apply only to us peons.......

Before this thread goes too far with some of the inaccuracies, TSA is held to the same standards as any other federal agency in terms of HAZMAT disposal, health guidelines, etc. X-ray machines are examined once a year, per federal guidelines, for compliance with all safety regulations. Screeners don't wear dosimeters because it was determined that the total exposure is minimal. A doctor explained to me that you get exposed to more radiation walking across a parking lot on a sunny day than you do if you stick your head inside an airport x-ray machine (although he said this doesn't mean he advocates sticking your head inside of x-ray machines!).

Every night, we have a couple TSOs who are specifically trained in HAZMAT who collect all the HAZMAT at screening checkpoints and checked baggage screening locations. They make sure that these items are properly disposed in appropriate containers that are marked in accordance with federal standards (the various classes of HAZMAT) and are stored in an area that has already been inspected and approved as appropriate for temporary storage of HAZMAT. Then every so often (I don't know the exact frequency since I am not HAZMAT-certified), this HAZMAT is transported off of airport property to a designated location for the permanent disposal of HAZMAT.

As for the Privacy Act, TSA is obligated to abide by that as well. I will admit, however, that this is one area where TSA is sloppy not by design but by poor leadership or a poor understanding of how the Privacy Act works. I'm afraid what happens here is a checklist mentality: TSA can show that all of its employees were trained on the Privacy Act but I don't think there's much in the way of following up on the actual compliance. I think some airports are probably pretty good at it and others are not. This is an area where TSA has to follow-through to ensure compliance, but it is not, as suggested, a conspiracy to circumvent the Privacy Act.

When you see things like this at airports, it makes the hazmat certification thing laughable.

Bingo. If liquids are potential bombs, they need to be treated as such. Otherwise, the liquid ban is a farce. Either way, TSA shows us that it can't admit yet another mistake.

Like Bart said (paraphrasing here)... you can lead a TSO to HAZMAT but you can't make him dispose of it properly

I would like to thank Bart once again - he consistently offers valuable inside information to how the TSA works - and how it is SUPPOSED to work for those within the organization who take pride in their job, like Bart.

I had TSA agents in ... lemme see, ABQ or COS, can't recall which offhand ... try to insist I place my "camcorder" in the bin separately from my other camera equipment... the other equipment being, IME, much more x-ray dense due to the high amounts of optical glass and electronic components, mind you. As soon as I said, "This isn't a camcorder; it's a regular camera," they said, "Oh--no, don't bother removing it!" They'd just seen very few D-SLRs, I guess.

Mind you, that's a trip across a parking lot (and I envision a Disney-sized lot, not the one at the local 7/11 ) vs. an instant in the machine. If one were to spend the same amount of time in the x-ray machine that it would take to cross that lot, you'd be getting some really interesting dosages...

only video cassette camcorders need to be placed separately.