Category Archives: Security Theater

The TSA has been making a lot of headlines lately. None of them are very flattering:

• A woman going through Madison, Wisconsin’s airport was reduced to tears and was visibly shaking during her pat-down. A fellow traveler took video, which you can see here. Many victims of sexual abuse have reported feeling similar emotions during pat-downs.
• Dina Frank is 7 years old and has cerebral palsy. She needs leg braces and crutches to walk, and has had a double hip replacement. Since she can’t walk through the metal detectors, she has to get pat-down every time she flies. The screeners were apparently aggressive as well as thorough, and upset the poor child. The screening took so long, her family ended up missing their flight. TSA defended the actions, saying proper procedures were followed.
• A now-former TSA officer is facing 20 years in prison for trafficking painkillers. Twenty people have been arrested in the case, and two TSA officers have so far pled guilty. If the FDA and DEA weren’t so intent on limiting the supply of pain relief, this black market would never have emerged. And the sentence is entirely out of line for a victimless crime. But it does show that TSA employees are corruptible.
• Two TSA employees in Los Angeles have also been charged with drug trafficking. They allegedly accepted cash bribes to let narcotics pass through LAX.
• A Congressman who co-sponsored an anti-TSA bill received a particularly vigorous pat-down, and is calling it assault.
• An elderly couple with two artificial knees and an artificial hip between them weren’t that surprised to set off a metal detector and be patted down as a result. But they were surprised to go  through multiple pat-downs, and that $300 in cash was stolen.
• A frequent flyer, feeling harassed in Portland, Oregon’s airport, lost his cool and stripped naked. According to the police report, “Mr. Brennan’s actions caused two screening lanes to be closed and while some passengers covered their eyes and their children’s eyes and moved away from the screening area, others stepped out of the screening lanes to look, laugh and take photos of Mr. Brennan.”
• And as a bonus, a (non-TSA) London screener gave a surprisingly thorough screening to supermodel Bar Rafaeli, which she remarked “left no doubt about her sexual preferences.”

Because Grandma didn’t go through security. TSA officials defended the pat-down, saying it was proper procedure.

Which means it’s well past time to change procedures.

First, a Dallas TSA inspector is accused of stealing multiple iPads from passengers’ luggage.

Second, a drag queen’s “chicken cutlet” breast enhancers violated the TSA’s 3.4 ounce limit for liquids or gels. The accessories in question, which are stuffed into brassieres, are clearly not bombs. The man was detained for an hour until TSA figured out he wasn’t a security threat. Fortunately, he did make his flight.

And third, former TSA chief Kip Hawley writes that the TSA is “broken” and calls for reform in a Wall Street Journal op-ed — three years after he left the agency. Better late than never,  I guess.

According to the Boston Herald, this is not the first time this has happened:

At least two other TSA officers assigned to Logan have faced sex charges in the past two years. Sex charges against others have been reported in Virginia, New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia and other states.

First, a TSA manager at Dulles airport has been arrested for running a prostitution ring.

Second, two Miami TSA employees were arrested for trashing a hotel room and firing a semiautomatic handgun six times out of a window.

Third, security expert Bruce Schneier has been debating former TSA head Kip Hawley over at The Economist. Schneier absolutely destroys him. Game, set match:

He wants us to trust that a 400-ml bottle of liquid is dangerous, but transferring it to four 100-ml bottles magically makes it safe. He wants us to trust that the butter knives given to first-class passengers are nevertheless too dangerous to be taken through a security checkpoint. He wants us to trust the no-fly list: 21,000 people so dangerous they’re not allowed to fly, yet so innocent they can’t be arrested. He wants us to trust that the deployment of expensive full-body scanners has nothing to do with the fact that the former secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff, lobbies for one of the companies that makes them. He wants us to trust that there’s a reason to confiscate a cupcake (Las Vegas), a 3-inch plastic toy gun (London Gatwick), a purse with an embroidered gun on it (Norfolk, VA), a T-shirt with a picture of a gun on it (London Heathrow) and a plastic lightsaber that’s really a flashlight with a long cone on top (Dallas/Fort Worth).

Presented without comment. Click here if the embedded video doesn’t work.

The creator of this great infographic sent me an email this morning asking if I’d post about it; happy to oblige. Original image here.

Worth noting: the link between body scanners and cancer is unclear. I’m personally skeptical that there’s a causal link, but we don’t know for sure yet. Either way, they’re easily defeated, and do not improve passenger safety.

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