|
After 10 years the TSA thugs finally admit searching pilots is a waste of time. How long will it take these government tyrants to admit that searching passengers is unconstitutional and a waste of time too?
TSA: Airline pilots will get to bypass new pat-downs by Tony Pugh - Nov. 20, 2010 12:00 AM McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON - Effective immediately, the nation's air carrier pilots are able to bypass the aggressive security screening and manual pat-downs that have stirred growing opposition from the flying public. The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that uniformed pilots for U.S. carriers and those traveling on airline business have only to provide their airline identification and another form of ID to TSA officers at airport checkpoints. The officers will check the credentials against a crew-member database that provides photos and other information to verify the pilots' employment status. The move reverses a previous TSA policy that subjected pilots to full-body screening by X-ray and radio-wave scanners as part of a stepped-up effort to thwart terrorism. A number of pilots' organizations said the new measures were burdensome, unnecessary and a violation of the long-standing trust between pilots and security personnel. Pilots already have been through extensive FBI background checks, and the TSA has deputized thousands of them as federal flight-deck officers. These deputized pilots are authorized to carry weapons and can use deadly force while on duty to protect the cockpit from a terrorist attack, according to the Air Line Pilots Association. "Pilots are trusted partners who ensure the safety of millions of passengers flying every day," said John Pistole, the head of the Transportation Security Administration. "Allowing these uniformed pilots, whose identity has been verified, to go through expedited screening at the checkpoint just makes for smart security and an efficient use of our resources." The policy change comes amid a growing furor over stepped-up passenger security measures, which were implemented recently without much warning.
TSA works to quell furor over screenings Nov. 23, 2010 12:00 AM Tribune Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - As the busy Thanksgiving travel weekend approaches, government officials went on the offensive Monday to quell passenger complaints about full-body scans and aggressive pat-downs at airports, saying the hype swirling around a few highly publicized cases does not reflect the reality of their new safety inspections. In the first two weeks after the enhanced screening measures began on Nov. 1, the Department of Homeland Security said about 700 of an estimated 28 million airline passengers lodged a complaint with the Transportation Security Administration. Of the passengers asked to submit themselves to a full-body scan, only 1 percent have opted out and instead agreed to a pat-down, which includes TSA agents using their hands to search passengers' clothed genital areas. The TSA also released a public-service announcement Monday with advice for travelers, emphasizing that the pat-downs are rare - only 3 percent of all airline passengers have had one - and that travelers can request that they be done in a private room. Most passengers will continue to pass through metal detectors only and will not get a full-body scan or a pat-down, officials said. Despite the stepped-up public-relations effort, the government is still facing formidable opposition in the form of Internet videos that have gone viral in the past few days. In one video, TSA agents at the Salt Lake City airport were performing a pat-down on a young boy when his father opted to remove the boy's shirt. In a widely seen YouTube clip, John Tyner warns agents not to "touch my junk" as he refused to submit himself to either a full-body scan or a pat-down. The protesters found some sympathetic listeners on Capitol Hill. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, sent TSA chief John Pistole a letter requesting information about the training TSA officers received before the pat-downs began. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, called for an investigation into the Salt Lake City incident. A loose network of groups opposed to the new rules are urging air travelers to "Opt Out" of advanced full-body imaging machines on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, in an effort to create delays in security lines. TSA officials said they will have extra workers on duty to deal with any slowdowns. Meanwhile, an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Monday indicated that Americans support the use of full-body screening machines by a 2-1 ratio but were evenly divided about pat-downs. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said it was more important to investigate possible terror threats than to protect personal privacy. The poll was conducted Sunday among a random national sample of 514 adults. Results from the poll had an error margin of 5 percentage points. In Washington, Pistole said his agency is constantly working to "blend privacy and security," responding to travelers' concerns while still confronting threats like that of the Christmas Day bomber in 2009, when a person was able to board a plane carrying PETN, a powdered explosive, that he hid in his underwear as he passed through a metal detector. Pistole said the new guidelines were developed to address that specific vulnerability in airport screening. "Everyone on a plane wants to know that the person next to them has been screened, yet everyone wants their privacy as well," Pistole said. The TSA uses two types of scanners. In terms of radiation exposure, the energy projected by the type of scanner using millimeter-wave technology is thousands of times less than a cellphone transmission, while a single scan using backscatter technology produces exposure equivalent to two minutes of flying on an airplane, according to the federal DHS. The scanners do not store the images.
See also |