You hit the nail on the head. His job is airport security-- his job is not to help you do your job.

A TSO's job is NOT airport security. A TSO's job is to prevent weapons, incendiaries and explosives from entering the sterile area or aircraft.

I suppose that's more accurate.

Anyway, I think my point was clear.

The point was clear to me but I just wanted to eliminate any wiggle room. Sorry I was not meaning to sound harsh.

Last I checked, there is a presumption of innocence until proved guilty in a court of law.

Not really. The money is confiscated. THe decision to confiscate/forfeit was not made by a court - it was made by a occifer. The person who owned it has to petition to get it back. Guilty until he proves his innocence.

Yes, I am opposed to seizures under admiralty laws. For just that reason.

Oh, and part of the problem is that in many places the police department that makes the seizure is 'rewarded' by keeping part of the spoils. But there is no corresponding penalty if the seizure was found to be improper. The entire burden is on the person from whom the money was seized - he/she has to petition, he/she lose use of the money during the court proceedings, he/she may be identified publically as a perp - even if they aren't. That is known in the real world as being a conflict of interest. There is a very, very strong incentive to seize now and ask questions later.

Hmmm - I carry melatonin and some vitamins fairly frequently on trips. They're in baggies. Sometimes they're buried in an available pocket inside my bag. Guess I can end up in a heap 'o trouble? :td::td::mad:

Images of Barney Fife dancing in my head... :rolleyes:

Ever since I posted in the LH forum, I have had a pretty thick skin. :p

A sense of humo(u)r after all.

I suspect some local police departments come to depend on this stolen I mean seized money to balance their budgets. I read of local departments confiscating hundreds of thousands of dollars year after year. The conflict of interest is too tempting. The police are addicted to drug money just like a heroin addict is addicted to his drugs.

They arrest a local drug dealer and confiscate $200,000. They make a "procedural mistake regarding evidence" on the arrest and the dealer does not get convicted because the police do not want him convicted. They want him back on the street. Six months later, they pop him again and keep another $200,000. The dealer is happy, being out of jail and in business. The "loss due to stolen cash" is a cost of doing business no more than if he was bribing the cops. The cops get to say "We're not getting bribed", but the drug money ends up in their pocket just the same. What's the difference? None that I can see.

I believe many police departments would not "win the war on drugs" even if it was possible. The want it to continue to justify large and ever larger departments and to be able to steal cash from drug dealers when they need some cash. The cops are addicted to the drug cash and will not kick the habit.

IF confiscating cash is allowed, the department making the confiscation should NOT be allowed to keep the cash. Pass a law requiring it to be donated to the local United Way. Do not let the cops be rewarded for questionable cash steals.

I'm sure SS31 will disagree. Oh, well. Happy New Year. :)

I am as serious as a deputy with a bullet in his shirt pocket. ;)

Questionable cash steals? I can tell you have many years of LE experience under your belt. I sit back and chuckle at people like you who only know our job from the inaccuracies the media decides to air at 5 & 6pm. If you worked a day in our shoes, you might have something accurate or meaningful to contribute to the conversation. Oh wait, you caught me, my goal in life is to seize money from drug dealers and watch them go free so I can do it over again. We're all as corrupt as the slum we're taking it from. Get a clue.

On a side note, my agency has no officers who are part of the DEA and we do not get a penny from the seizures.

You, Ari and others still want to ignore the fact that this type of action has been going on for years, and it will continue. TSA is just a scapegoat because the checkpoints are currently under their control rather than the FAA. Like I said before, I don't recall any forums bashing FAA and/or the contract security companies who were doing the exact same thing long before TSA came along. It's just easier to go after them because of the dislike by you and others here at FT.

Not that it's enforced greatly, but many states make it unlawful to carry prescription meds in anything but the containers they were issued in. I wouldn't necessarily call it a "heap 'o trouble," but yes, out on the street you can be arrested for it.

By policy, he is supposed to report suspicious items discovered during an administrative (and consensual) search. Again, whether you believe the policy is bologne is another question. Take that up with the suits in DC, but as far as the TSO, they're doing what they were told. You guys are wanting to punish the messenger.

Did you say something??

Why are some people out of their mind obsessed with the idea that having a large amount of cash is suspicious or comes from drug dealing or some other illegal activity? Last time I checked it was not illegal to be rich or eccentric in the USA. If being either is reasonable grounds for arousing suspicion then we are about 14 million cops under strength to deal with the work load.

A. Over $10K must be reported.
B. If you work at the location in your profile, Canada and Mexico would both be non-stop international destinations (add connections and one can travel anywhere).

The more you claim this hogwash is consensual, the more your already minimal stature diminshes. Keep kidding yourself. I do not ever recollect giving explicit consent for the silliness that passes for a search at the typical airport check-point... Would seem that the recipients of a search would have to explicitly give consent in order for the search to be consensual. Implying that said consent is obtained merely by entering a check-point to undertake today's necessity of air travel is a legal flight of tormented illogic punctuated by your own little self-congratulatory fantasy.
Isn't there someone taking pictures at your airport within your imagined one minute check-point response zone? :rolleyes:

Sorry dude you are judged by the company you keep. There are thousands of cases involving crooked cops and crooked agencies. You know as well as I do that a good portion of seizure cases are weak at best and fraud at worst.