Does TSA Have Any Authority Without LEO?
Nov 27, 2007 | 9:05 pm
#1
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Does TSA Have Any Authority Without LEO?
I am sitting at the airport and had a thought. Does the TSA really have any authority to enforce anything without LEO?
They can *ask* you not to enter the "sterile" area (a misnomer) until you have gone through their procedures, but they can't actually stop you from doing so.
In the same vein they can *ask* you to enter only if you have a boarding pass, they can *ask* you to enter with only 2 items, etc.
This thought goes a little further. If there is a terminal dump, can TSA actually do anything without LEO?
They can *ask* you not to enter the "sterile" area (a misnomer) until you have gone through their procedures, but they can't actually stop you from doing so.
In the same vein they can *ask* you to enter only if you have a boarding pass, they can *ask* you to enter with only 2 items, etc.
This thought goes a little further. If there is a terminal dump, can TSA actually do anything without LEO?
Nov 28, 2007 | 9:12 am
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Nov 28, 2007 | 10:20 am
#6
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Seriously, the TSA has no powers of detention - need a police officer for that.
The TSA does not and should not put themselves in harm's way - someone pulls a gun at the checkpoint or tries to force their way airside - that is the police officer's job to prevent, not the TSA's.
Nov 28, 2007 | 10:24 am
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Nov 28, 2007 | 12:17 pm
#8
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My memory has grown faulty with age, but wasn't part of the plan under the 2001 TSA (the law creating the TSA) to hire and train thousands of TSA LEOs? What scuttled that? Money? Someone came to their senses?
Nov 28, 2007 | 12:28 pm
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There was talk about that. I remember they had the the training program set up at FLETC and I think they even hired some folks. Then, it all went away. Who knows?
Nov 28, 2007 | 1:53 pm
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