About All That Talk That Airports Want to Toss Aside the TSA...

January 7, 2011 at 3:33 PM | by Omri | Comments (4)

Members of the 112th Congress seem pretty excited about the possibility of going after the TSA, echoing the murmurs we've been hearing about airports replacing TSA workers with private security employees.

Notable in this regard is Rep. John Mica, the new chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who has very little love for the security agency and thinks it's b"bloated... and top-heavy." So all those issues with privacy, groping, and unpleasant traveling—problem solved, right?

Not exactly. There's a very good argument to be made that replacing TSA won't fix any of the things that people hate about TSA. It turns out that, as a condition for providing security at airports, companies have to agree to enforce TSA regulations. They still have to subject passengers to full-body scanning and enhanced pat-downs, and we're still going to have to memorize seemingly arbitrary carry-on rules to get our luggage through checkpoints. According to this argument, it doesn't really matter who's taking the pictures or doing the searches.

Now that's not totally right. As we've noted over and over, the disaster of TSA comes from bad apples doing bad things. It's not just that passengers are getting groped, but that they're getting groped by agents who often don't understand their jobs and are prone to abusing their power.

So if there are multiple companies all vying for contracts, maybe that will force TSA to pay more attention and perhaps change their hiring and oversight practices. It's also worth noting that—simply from a security standpoint—private security companies can't do much worse in catching bombs and guns.

But the structural problems with airport security aren't going anywhere. It's the American approach to airline security that makes traveling increasingly miserable, not (necessarily) the people enforcing it. And just in case you were under any illusions, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wants you to know that the approach is here to stay.

[Photo: TSA]

Related Stories:
· New Congress leaders keen on replacing TSA [YYY]
· Airport Security [Jaunted]

Comments (4)

Return to » About All That Talk That Airports Want to Toss Aside the TSA...

Nobody knows what will happen if they defund the TSA and put new management in charge ... let me guess, you are an Obama supporter right? Obama just circumvented congress to impose these scanners and gate-rapers on us.

The TSA wasn't actually authorized to roll out the scanners. According to the congressional authorization they were required to go back to congress for public comment and a final decision after the pilot ... something they didn't do.

Defund, dissolve, dismantle the TSA.

The TSA is a modern monument to ineffectiveness. The backscatter scanners -- foisted on the TSA by Rapiscan lobbyist/former DHS secretary Michael Chertoff -- are dangerous and, according to a number of experts, can be easily thwarted by anyone with a slab of foam latex and a can of FX-grade putty. Even a large pancake can disguise a handgun. Although such issues were intentionally not addressed for security reasons, the video posted below from After the Press (afterthepress.com) has broken through the major media hyperbole barrier to answer the real questions about what's wrong with these machines. Neither of the interviewees, two of the most reputable scientists in the field of radiation physics and technology, will step into one. So whether or not you're offended by the prospect of becoming the subject of a live peepshow for blue-gloved agents, or care about your rights being abrogated, you'll still want to be cognizant of the danger in subjecting your or your children's bodies to backscatter radiation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS0UxXDNs4w

I can understand the rationale for these scanners and you would assume they would make flying safer but having just watched my wife go through treatment for breast cancer I am more concerned with what health impacts there might be in years to come. As far as the privacy issue goes I wish that was all we had to worry about. During my wife's treatment at a major hospital in Melbourne (Aus) I found a male staff member watching my half naked wife on a video screen. No, he had nothing to do with treating her and the hospital had no issue with this. Privacy?? forget it.

After a harrowing "security" experience at Heathrow last week I can't stop asking myselfg: HOW many valuable items "lost" and forgotten by passengers at the hysteria hot-spots (detectors and scanners) are actually being registered? How much is "shared" between security personnel? How many unmarked watches, jewels, rings, diamonds, computers, wallets (with various content) are left behind just to disappear under the chaotic circumstances that is a daily occurrence at airports like Heathrow, where security personnel notoriously make life worse for passengers through down-right harassment? How much of value is "taken care of"???

Jaunted

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