need to add title here

Screening The TSA

December 23, 2008 6:58 AM

The Transportation Security Administration says passenger checkpoints are making flights safer, but a security adviser says those measures are "security theater." Lesley Stahl reports.

Expert: TSA Screening Is Security Theater
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by buytheredcar December 25, 2008 7:43 AM EST
people are really paranoid
keep being scared people!
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by B.Grossman December 25, 2008 2:59 AM EST
Being a local law enforcement officer at an airport I see things going on all the time at the TSA checkpoints. The additional screening of the elderly because their artificial joints set off the magnitomiter. I''ve seen children under the age of two being screened. Prior to 9/11 and afterward but before TSA came into existance, we had private security screeners that did just as good a job but without the hassle. We had passengers come through with items that they had gotten through other airports but were denied at ours. I thouht that after TSA started that at least there would be uniformity throughout the system. This has not been the case. Having personnaly traveled through several airports, I still find discrepencies in the screening process. The one thing that I find is there is a general lack of common sense among many of the screeners and managers.
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by giftedgayle December 24, 2008 3:14 AM EST
Ok, people, let''s get something straight here: when has ANY government agency told you EVERYTHING concerning their operations? Really think about that. I am a TSO at JFK Airport, and I won''t tell you everything I do, but I will say that some of the things I and my fellow officers have experienced, you wouldn''t want to know...scary things. A question for all of you people commenting: does a bus fly? Can it go overseas like a plane can? No. Planes, believe it or not, are a significant aid in commerce. If a plane were under attack today, no one would fly the next day; that is exactly what happened on 9/11-no wanted to fly, and what happened? The stocks went down...way down. So trust me when I say that a bus or a boat blowing up would have less of an impact on the economy than a plane. I do my job thinking about the public. Yes, the rules are annoying, but they''re necessary...and they work. And trust me-we stop so much more than you think.
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by nyutex December 23, 2008 3:55 AM EST
Hello, I travel about 75,000 miles a year. About 3 years ago I noticed that I had a box cutter in my brief case. I had gone through the airline security about 8 times with that box cutter in my case before I noticed it. Since then I have kept flying with a box cutter just to see if the TSA would ever find it, but more importantly, for self-defense. I have flown to japan, hong kong, hawaii, france,London, Scotland and all over the usa without it ever taken away. I have even had three box cutters in my bag but have never been stopped. I am wondering if this is happening to me, originally, by accident, how can ANY OF US feel safe on a plane?
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by CallingPlanetEarth December 22, 2008 4:40 PM EST
A _far too mild_ critique. Security is a complete farce as revealed in this recent article. Amazing:

November 2008 Atlantic Magazine

The Things He Carried

"Airport security in America is a sham-"security theater" designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get
through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items-as our correspondent did with ease."

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/airport-security
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by summerlover9 December 22, 2008 2:18 AM EST
As a former TSA employee, I can''t say too much but want the general public to know that the airport where I worked, the overwhelming attitude of the employees was to make sure every passenger who passed through our airport arrived at their destination safely. Do we wish we could do more? Of course! Do we wish we had the cooperation of the American public? Definitely! It takes away from our ability to hone in and focus on what needs to be done when it''s a game to the flying public to see what kind of contraband they can get through. I can assure you that if the flying public worked for TSA they would be telling the rest of the flying public to "grow up" and allow us to do our jobs, so we can put our efforts into focusing on what we need to focus on. Yes, passengers when they are caught will look us in the eyes and lie to us, making us take the time to look for the contraband while you, the passenger are getting backed up in the screening line; this happens countless times during every day, at every airport.

This isn''t a game people! Pay attention to what the experts say about having water and food supplies for your families! The enemy is unseen and they are out there watching and waiting. It''s the fool who won''t heed the warnings.
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by bnemati December 22, 2008 2:04 AM EST
As a business traveler, I found this topic of particular interest and relevance. I was disappointed however that CBS did not do more interviewing and perhaps a focus group or two of the frequent travelers'' experience going throught the TSA checkpoints. I am sure that the TSA personnel go through a lot, putting up with all the travelers, but there are quite a few of TSA members that put the travelers through quite a lot, that I don''t believe is warranted (and contrary to the agency''s policies, at least so I hope). In my experience, there are numerous inconsistencies from airport to airport WITHIN the United States (all rules are basically out the door once you travel internationally ...)_. There is a great story to be told from the perspective of the frequent traveler that I believe CBS should report on.
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by xeduc8r December 22, 2008 2:01 AM EST
My husband, Bob, and I have absolutely no problem with the security check points or the TSA employees.
The employees we have had dealings with have always been friendly, polite and considerate. We have always found that if you are polite and considerate to people they will respond in kind. As for having
everything checked we would rather have EVERYTHING checked than to be on a plane with a bomb. We do not considerate it an imposition. We tend to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before our flight so that we are not rushed or stressed.
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by shanealgarin December 22, 2008 2:00 AM EST
Why should we have any more security boarding a plane than we do a bus, a train, a concert, etc? The goal is to prevent a plane from being turned into a missile. Securing the cockpit does this. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. A bus exploding is just as terrible as a plane exploding. But we are not taking our shoes off to board that bus. It seems all rational thought has been thrown out the window to satisfy the appearance of security.
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by gfroehlich December 22, 2008 12:01 AM EST
The TSA has rules but has not thought through many of them. For instance: I am a US government employee who works on wildland fires each summer. Because the government buys me one-way tickets to travel to these emergency situations, I am searched and patted down at almost every airport. I show my government ID and emergency orders but the TSA refuses to accept them and treats me like a criminal. That is why so many people get upset with TSA - they are mindless bureaucrats who don''t think, they only "follow the rules."
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