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southwestforests
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Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Age: 61
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,138
Location: A little ways south of the river
09 Oct 2009, 2:51 am
Remnant wrote:
It seems ludicrous that they would have people who have an average IQ of less than 60 trying to evaluate the body language of total strangers.
There's a lot of stories of the TSA doing eminently more ludicrous things in this travel blog http://www.gadling.com/
But first, there's this
http://www.gadling.com/2008/11/22/tsas- ... -the-time/
Quote:
A program the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began in 2006 that attempts to catch terrorists and other criminals by their suspicious behavior has been wrong over 99% of the time, according to the TSA's own numbers.
The program, which trains TSA screeners to detect suspicious or odd behavior in passengers, has resulted in 160,000 stops of passengers, including pat-downs and in-depth questioning. Yet only 1,266 arrests were made out of those 160,000 stops, mostly for drug possession and carrying fake identification.
Unsurprisingly, many are critical of the "behavior detection" program, including Carnegie Mellon professor Stephen Fienberg, who calls the program "a sham," and says, "We have no evidence it works." Other scientists say that while objective observers may be able to detect nervous behavior, there's no way to tell whether it's because they're planning a terrorist attack or traveling to have an extramarital affair.
TSA spokesperson Ellen Howe puts a more positive spin on the numbers, however. She says the program has been "incredibly effective" at catching criminals.
Indeed. Saying the program is "wrong 99% of the time" sounds so negative. Why not say it has a success rate of almost 1%?
The program, which trains TSA screeners to detect suspicious or odd behavior in passengers, has resulted in 160,000 stops of passengers, including pat-downs and in-depth questioning. Yet only 1,266 arrests were made out of those 160,000 stops, mostly for drug possession and carrying fake identification.
Unsurprisingly, many are critical of the "behavior detection" program, including Carnegie Mellon professor Stephen Fienberg, who calls the program "a sham," and says, "We have no evidence it works." Other scientists say that while objective observers may be able to detect nervous behavior, there's no way to tell whether it's because they're planning a terrorist attack or traveling to have an extramarital affair.
TSA spokesperson Ellen Howe puts a more positive spin on the numbers, however. She says the program has been "incredibly effective" at catching criminals.
Indeed. Saying the program is "wrong 99% of the time" sounds so negative. Why not say it has a success rate of almost 1%?
http://www.gadling.com/2008/03/07/airpo ... eens-life/
Quote:
An ill Orlando teenager was thwarted in the screening line of Orlando International Airport a few weeks ago, when security workers for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) insisted on inspecting a back-up feeding tube he carries with him in a sealed, clear sterilized plastic bag.
James Hoyne, 14, has a feeding tube in his stomach and always has a second one in reserve, if he needs it. Orlando television station WFTV reports that a TSA officer opened the back-up tube to inspect it, over the teen's objections, thus contaminating the feeding tube that Hoyne said he turned out to later need.
James Hoyne, 14, has a feeding tube in his stomach and always has a second one in reserve, if he needs it. Orlando television station WFTV reports that a TSA officer opened the back-up tube to inspect it, over the teen's objections, thus contaminating the feeding tube that Hoyne said he turned out to later need.
http://www.gadling.com/2008/10/22/woman ... -my-ankle/
Quote:
A Washington state woman is on the hunt for a lawyer to go after the Transportation Security Administration, after screeners at the Pasco, Washington airport made her remove a foot brace she was wearing for a sprained ankle.
Screeners at the airport not only made her remove the brace -- apparently against regulations -- but then made her balance on one foot, then the other.
Screeners at the airport not only made her remove the brace -- apparently against regulations -- but then made her balance on one foot, then the other.
http://www.gadling.com/2008/07/27/tsa-p ... ng-search/
Quote:
A 71 year old man was recently searched because he had a prosthetic knee, and the TSA officer went so far as to remove the man's pants in plain sight of the checkpoint to insure that he wasn't hiding anything.
http://www.gadling.com/2008/08/20/tsa-i ... ht-delays/
Quote:
According to this ABC News report, an inspector at Chicago's O'Hare Airport used sensitive instrument probes as handholds while climbing into nine American Eagle airplanes. These TAT probes, pictured, are important to the operation of flight computers. As a result, 40 commuter flights were delayed.
http://www.gadling.com/2007/09/18/tsa-p ... boxcutter/
http://www.gadling.com/2007/08/23/tsa-s ... ith-knife/
http://www.gadling.com/2009/04/02/tsa-d ... ying-cash/
http://www.gadling.com/2008/10/16/yet-a ... nd-badges/
Quote:
One of the most startling pieces of news in the report is that ex-TSA workers are not always returning their security badges, which can be used to enter "sterile areas" of the airport. They are also frequently keeping their uniforms. Amazingly, the TSA does not always seem to be in a hurry to get them back.
http://www.gadling.com/2008/04/25/tsa-s ... snt-fired/
http://www.gadling.com/2009/02/18/angry ... search-th/
http://www.gadling.com/2008/08/26/under ... er-flight/
http://www.gadling.com/2008/03/27/tsa-h ... ple-rings/
http://www.gadling.com/2008/03/08/macbo ... -security/
http://www.gadling.com/2009/04/15/crema ... a-says-oo/
http://www.gadling.com/2009/02/23/tsa-c ... -finds-it/
And there's plenty more where these came from.
09 Oct 2009, 3:10 am
southwestforests
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Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Age: 61
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Posts: 1,138
Location: A little ways south of the river
09 Oct 2009, 7:18 am
racooneyes
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Joined: 23 Sep 2009
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 410
Location: blackeye, outer rim
09 Oct 2009, 8:59 am
11 Nov 2009, 12:25 am
