Expert: TSA Screening Is Security Theater

TSA Head Disputes Claim, Tells 60 Minutes Measures Are Necessary Because "This Is A War"

(CBS)  This story was first published on Dec. 21, 2008. It was updated on July 31, 2009.

If your summer vacation includes travel by airplane, you may be dreading the long lines and intrusive searches that a trip through an airport checkpoint can mean these days.

Since 9/11, $40 billion has been spent to beef up airport security, with most of it going to hire 50,000 screeners who enforce rules often considered annoying and arbitrary.

But as 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl first reported last December, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has launched an effort to remake its image with a public relations campaign to convince the public that there's a good reason for the inconveniences and indignities.

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Read more about the TSA's high-tech full body scanning program, which has some privacy advocates crying foul.

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Go to a checkpoint and you'll find passengers bellyaching about the undressing, the unbuckling, and the taking off of their shoes - which they don't have to do in Europe or even Israel, where airline security is especially tight.

There's a lot of stress, and griping about having to pack their little liquids into baggies. They resent that each and every traveler is treated like a possible terrorist.

When Stahl asked Kip Hawley, the outgoing head of TSA, if all this is really necessary, he wanted us to know that the terrorist threat has not gone away.

"This is war. These people are trying to kill us. They got on the planes in September 11th, 2001, killed 3,000 people. And they will do it again as many times as they can," Hawley said.

"There's been a lot of criticism about people who clearly are not terrorists. The 90-year-old little old lady. …My mother, in fact…was patted down, and pulled aside. It doesn't make any sense. It's not common sense," Stahl remarked.

"You can't say to al Qaeda, 'If you give us somebody who looks like they're 90 years old or nine months old, you're going to get a free pass.' Because I guarantee you, they are watching. They notice it. And that's where they'll come," Hawley warned.

It's on the TSA's "watch floor" that analysts track thousands of flights, especially when there is a passenger on board that TSA suspects has links to terrorist groups.

At the time of Stahl's visit, Hawley said the analysts were tracking two such individuals in the air, fully aware which aircraft they were traveling on. "And we know what they were carrying with them. We know the whole scoop. Do they know? Maybe not," Hawley said. "And I think the public doesn't realize that this is for real. And that this happens every day."

But the TSA has a record of tracking and stopping innocent passengers, which has contributed to the agency's overall credibility problem. In focus groups, travelers questioned the TSA's ability to keep us safe and also complained about "pointless" security measures and rude and incompetent screeners.

"We're not out there to be fake security guards," said Ladonta Edwards, who like Gary Wilkes works at a Washington D.C. area airport.

They say screeners feel the public's hostility every day. Wilkes said he had never had anybody throw something specifically at him, but has seen objects thrown.

Passengers can be so surly, screeners feel abused and frazzled.

The TSA is sending every one of its 50,000 screeners back for retraining in how to treat the flying public. But from what 60 Minutes heard about how the public treats them, it's no wonder these guys need anger management.

"You hear, 'Well, I have a flight to catch. Hurry up. Do this, do that.' You know, you're taking your time to be nice and courteous to them, because that's your job, and they don't appreciate it," one screener told Stahl.

"Sometimes it can be so paralyzing, you can't do anything. You just want to bury your head somewhere," another said.

"The perception is we yell back. We scream. We get in combative mode. We're ready to fight," Ladonta Edwards commented.

"You're human!" Stahl pointed out.

"What do we do to change that perception?" Edwards asked.

"We're teaching people not to react to their emotions. Actually smile, still be pleasant, and send your positive emotions to that individual," Gary Wilkes added.

The price tag for all this retraining is $35 million. Then there are the new police-style uniforms to give the screeners a more authoritative look. It's all meant to help screeners deal with the challenges of the job.

"What's the most bizarre thing that you've seen someone put in their carry on and go through the screener?" Stahl asked.

"I can tell you the most bizarre [thing] that has gone through the x-ray machine. Passengers that have actually by mistake sent pets through and children, by accident," Wilkes said. "We…actually had to put signs on the machine….'Don't put your children through the x-ray machines.'"

"Infants in the carriers, they just take the whole carrier in, send it through," Edwards added.

[TrickynWV]

The TSA and Border Patrol are jokes. Worse, they are a plague on the American taxpayers. I just read a story how millions of dollars of drugs were smuggled across Canada and US borders with low budget helicopters. Any terrorist would certainly consider entering in this fashion.

When will our congress have enough gonads to put a stop to this idiotic nonsense?
We the people, ARE FED UP ! (no pun intended)

[CrankyFlier]

Sorry to burst your bubble, Mr. Hawley, but the TSA's checkpoint antics really are nothing more than "security theater" ... and not very entertaining theater at that. Thinking that the TSA is really an effective front in the "war on terror" is probably a safe thing to say when you're on your way out, but if you were sticking around you'd have a less enthusiastic opinion. For me, when I want laughable entertainment, I'll tune in to Mystery Science Theater. At least then I can't be arrested for making a sarcastic yet apt comment, as your TSA goons would be quick to do at the airport.

[even par]

The critical comments about the TSA are right on the mark, especially the obscene cost. But starting with Guliani and now Kip Hawley who are heavily invested in "terrorism" the public is afraid the lady in the next seat may be a terrorist. Scared, perhaps the public would not fly without the TSA. I know why Hawley will not tell us how many terrorists he has nabbed since 9/11. It could very well be zero! Will it be twenty years before we recognize the TSA as an elaborate and expensive scam? If terrorists are just waiting to hit us why don't they grab a Gulfstream? Even Par.

[lhaleygi]

What is wrong with America?????? People can spend all evening in line for Black Friday or hours in line for a concert ticket but no way can they spend a few extra minutes in line for their own safety. I clean at a airport and you wouldnt believe what goes on their. After 9/11 everyone was all for the extra steps to prevent another terror attackl but now they all think we are safe agian so they dont want to be bothered with TSA rules. Its sad that it tkaes a major thing happening to the United States again befor eAmericans get a reality check. I for one would stand inline at a airport for however long it takes to baord a plane and know Tsa has done everything it possibly can to make sure the passengers are safe. Wake up America we are still at WAR.

I had the impression that most TSA screeners don't have the brains to work a real job where some effort is required. Since most appear to come from specific background it looks like it is make work project to bring employment so they can leave the ghetto. No real talent required to do the job except perhaps to be overweight and keep a bland stupid expression on one's face.

[kaunas8]

On top of all the normal nonsense it now appears that the TSA is stealing from people. On a recent flight my bag was searched by the TSA, after I checked it in, and later several hundred dollars worth of medicine and clothes were taken. I called TSA but cannot even speak to a real human being but instead must fill out a form and trust that the bureaucracy can get this resolved. Your tax dollars at work.

Stealing is one of the job skills for the job and they get to wear a uniform while they do it. Well at least they are off the street and not shooting each other.

[RobertBaldridge]

I have for years before 911 set off the airport check points because of back operation and four hip operations. I wish we did not have to have the security, but to know that some nut with a gun is not on my plane is good enough for me to have the security. I do not like having to go through security, but I do APPRECIATE it.

Thank you..

Bob Baldridge, [e-mail], Nashville, TN. 37215

[number1GI]

I will be traveling to............one of these days . I want to get there in one peace! ...If they want me down to my shorts and T-shirt I will..........As long as everyone else does

[ahinman2]

You have got to be Kidding! I am a former chief of security at an international airport and as the person responsible for the overall security of the airport my office was required to conduct fingerprint based background checks of all people requesting access to secure areas of the airport including TSA personnel. To my surprise and dismay I quickly learned that TSA was willing to hire convicted felons, admitted drug addicts and alcoholics even when they themselves had done a similar background check and were aware of the person%u2019s history. Remember, these people are placed in a position of great public trust and are generally given access to very sensitive information regarding personal information of members of the traveling public and current security measures. We should be very careful any time we consider giving up even the slightest of our liberty to TSA or any other agency. It might be more palatable to the general public if what TSA did was in some manner effective but as has been made public on several occasions every time the TSA is tested they fail more that %80 of the time.

[vegasjoe79]

I say let passengers, except those profiled to be dangerous, bring their guns on the plane; then any terrorist won''t know who is packing a weapon and who is not so effectively they cannot plot! Use steel doors in the cockpit withboth pilots armed and loaded.