May 25, 2010 Be nice or be listed
“Airline passengers who get frustrated and kick a wall, throw a suitcase or make a pithy comment to a screener could find themselves in a little-known Homeland Security database.
The Transportation Security Administration says it is keeping records of people who make its screeners feel threatened as part of an effort to prevent workplace violence.” - USA Today
Frank@OBOW
You may have read or heard about a recent article on how fliers might end up in a TSA workplace violence database. The fact is, TSA screens nearly 2 million passengers each day at over 450 airports nationwide. Since we began the workplace violence program in 2007, we’ve screened over a billion air travelers and yet only about 30 passengers are included on this list.
Roughly 30 names out of the more than 1,000,000,000 passengers screened by TSA since 2007 made the cut.
So how did these 30 folks make the list? Two options:
- The police got involved. In all but one incident, local police officers responded to assist in resolving the incident.
- They got arrested. In the majority of these cases, the individuals involved were arrested or issued summonses by local law enforcement officers for allegedly assaulting a Transportation Security Officer.
In short, to join this select group, a passenger has to commit an egregious act that harms, or threatens to harm, either passengers, airline personnel, or Transportation Security Officers.
Frank@OBOW
Monte’s new nickname: “Old Number 31”
Reader Comments (11)
Still, it's not a job that I would want.
A Canadian friend of the family was pulled aside in the US as his name matched someone on a watch list. He was white, under 16 years old, interrogated for 15 hours without informing his parents (who were travelling with him) as to what was the reason. Finally, they decided the kid was not the guy they were looking for.
Cough cough. The guy they were looking for on the "List" that they thought they had caught? Was black, over a foot taller than the young man, and thirty years older!
This is NOT a list anyone wants to be on! Even in error!
TSA threatens travelers sytematically "Want to fly today?". So what are we supposed to do? Keep a list? Insert choice expletive!
Perhaps if the TSA hired people with what seems to be more common sense, brains, (oh many other options come to mind), we have to suffer through it. I try to be nice to them, smile, and hope it helps them have a better day even for a moment. Still, they can make even that small gesture from me trying at times!
There was a news documentary that I saw here in Canada about the luggage handlers in North America - who are not screened for criminal background checks before given such a job (and it was found that a high percentage do have criminal records!), they themselves do not have to go through metal detectors etc to get in to the luggage area, and so forth. Who knows what they can plant in a bag or worse.
Cheers.