They ARE the idiots putting initials on your boarding pass.

My automatic assumption is that people practicing SPOT include:

• Any TSO asking me anything other than a phrase constituting a Demand to see my ID or B/P
• Any LEO that decides to strike up a conversation while I am on airport property
• Any unknown individual who decides to strike up a conversation with me while I am on airport property

Are these SPOTTERS necessarily uniformed or plain-clothes, or can it be both? People checking one's BP in line are uniformed, but the comment about some random person, and I am paraphrasing here, "striking up a conversation on airport property", seem that they might be plain-clothes.

I'll definitely have to keep my eyes open for this in the coming months.

I don't think any of our intrepid TSA posters have ever stated whether all TSA BDO (Behavior Detection Officer) personnel are uniformed or not. Some airports (BOS comes to mind) use local LEO (Mass State Troopers in BOS) as sterile area SPOT personnel; most encounters with LEO personnel reported here have been uniformed, from what I recall without performing a search.

However, I make an educated guess about other folks in the airport. It hardly makes sense to run an intelligence gathering operation with strictly uniformed personnel. Are there actually plainclothes SPOT personnel, I don't truly know. Could there be...absolutely.

Anyone know/think the private contractors did SPOT too before TSA took over?

OP here. In following the recent posts I've come to the conclusion that "The Crow" was so inept that they wanted to get him away from the screening area. So they said "why don't you go over to the queue and play spot."

The problem with all of this is that I was in a hurry and afraid I'd miss my plane. My sense is that these are the people who get caught in the SPOT net and can least afford to make small talk. Of course I'm nervous, my plane leaves in 15 minutes, I've waited in the queue for 15 minutes, and now you're gonna harass me.

They have been shown a video on "How to Identify a Terrorist".

I think I am going to learn sign language so I can answer the spotter in sign.

And the taxpayers have furnished them with either:

Terrorism for Dummies

or

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Terrorism

There's only one sign you need to learn :)

Having worked for a major carrier for many years in Corporate Security, I would say that no, this did not exist in the domestic U.S. as it has been implemented by TSA, and, in fact, not really anything like it.

I hope you make an exception for those who make comments about your FT luggage tag, provided they tell you their FT handle. With those people you can carry on extensive conversations, preferably while imbibing.

:)

If they were smart they would get some beautiful ladies strolling about SPOTing the different guys out there. Then they might talk more :p

I feel safer already...

Ciao,
FH

Yup. Says so on people's ID. :rolleyes:

I saw a SPOTTER at LAX T1, he was plain clothed (ala FAM style, red fleece, khaki pants), standing at the top of the escalators, looking mostly down at the ID check. However, he was wearing an ID, which said something along the lines of TSA or Federal LEO..."SPOT program"

I kinda figured he was the SPOTTER, because of where he was standing, but for fun I stared up at him all the way up the escalator, and saw his ID badge.

I only paid attention because I had just read some article about "SPOT caches men with guns at BWI" on the tsa website.