Sunday, August 12, 2007

TSA and Profiling - Should it be done???

I first have to say (to stay out of jail) TSA's official stance is that they DO NOT profile. Now for a dose of reality. Everyone profiles, right or wrong it happens. As a former frontline TSA officer I believe we should profile and so do many others. So is it happening on the sly....you bet it is. Profiling is a necessary evil. Sometime you have to profile to find the bad guy.

There is a misconception about what profiling is and that is why there is such an uproar from the ACLU types. When you profile you are looking for a specific type that meets the criteria. The problem is people think that means you don't look at anyone else. There in lies the problem. If the profile happens to be Middle Eastern men between the ages of 20-45 then every one of them gets checked. Also though, you randomly pull people from the group that is not profiled. There are different kinds of profiling as well and some are acceptable but not when it comes to race. Racial profiling is what it happens to be this time. Next time it might only be men with scars on their left ankle. The criteria changes and all facets should be considered including race.

Now the protect my rights at all cost people say that is wrong. They say it is unfair to inconvenience this profiled group just because they are similar to the people who perputrated the crime. Hello.....do you not think the 1000s of people who died were inconvenienced??? What about the children who will grow up without parents and the family memebers left behind...no inconvenience for them???? They also say that profiling violates their rights. Their rights to what??? I don't recall any constitutional right to be free from profiling. These same people aren't saying you can't profile based on psychological factors or physical descriptors just race.

It would actually help the public view of Middle Eastern Men if they were profiled. See the public is uneasy with the Middle Eastern men because of what happened. If they were profiled by TSA and checked the majority of them would be absolutely fine because they aren't terrorist. Then the government could say, "hey we checked them all and they were good". I stand by the old adage of if you have done nothing wrong, you have little to fear.

Now your going to love this. I was raised in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia to be exact. I lived there for 5 years. I am not terrorist and I don't look like a terrorist but I get some raised eyebrows when it comes up. I tell you this because that is why there is a need to profile, yes even racial, AND randomly check everyone else. I know that not everyone in the Middle East is a terrorist and I know this first hand but I still believe in profiling.

Here is one of the main factors about profiling and TSA. IF TSA incorporated profiling that is all it would be. TSA would not be arresting these people that meet the profile they would be just checking them a litlle more closely.

I would like to say I am sorry if you are offended but I am not sorry. Be offended, you have every right to be. Don't read anything more I write and consider me a loon, I don't care. I am not an expert on profiling in anyway and don't pretend to be. I was in security and I do fly on airplanes therefore I have a right to want to be safe and if that happens to offend a group of people then so be it. If the profile were white women between the ages of 25-40 then I would just have to accept that and get extra screening. There is always going to be a bad guy amoungst the good. Unfortunately the good have to suffer for the one bad. You can't sit back and allow bad people to hide behind the feelings of the good.

Complaints and What TSA Employees Really Think of Them

After 5 years (ok almost 5 years but I am not going to write that every time so don't bother me with semantics) I have heard a variety of complaints. Some are reasonable, logical and warranted. Some however are stupid, inane and waste everyone's time. Here is what the TSA employee thinks when you complain. Caveat....this is not an official TSA response this is just what the frontline employees think and would like to say to but can't.

Scenario #1 Passenger gets to the front of a line they have stood in for about 45 minutes and complains about the time spent in line.

Now you get to the front of the line and start complaining....complaining equals longer wait time. You are now holding up every passenger behind you in line. Which is what the people in front of you did to make your wait time so long in the first place. TSA employees can only process passengers as fast as the passengers want to go. If you felt the need to wear a ton of metal, carry prohibited items, and have fifty carry on bags there is nothing TSA can do for you. What the TSA officer wants to say is, "Have you been living in a cave???? Did you not know you were going to walk through a metal detector??? Did you miss one of the fifty signs that says laptops have to come out of the bag???? Your really pissing off the people behind you and now I have to listen to them whine and complain." Now we all know TSA officers can't say this, we have to be polite and patient and understanding...which slows down the process. You get to the front of the line and complain and all we can do is shrug our shoulders and hope that your rant ends soon. There is little to nothing a TSA officer can do about the time you spend in line. There is something TSA management can do but they are not going to do anything. TSA management could provide a permanent employee whos only job is to stand at the front of the line and tell passengers exactly what to do and how to do and get it done before they reach the front of the line. Unfortunately, this is considered a luxury position. If a checkpoint lane is only staffed with three people then you have one on x-ray, one running the metal detector and one running between bag searchs and wanding people. No officer available to help out the passengers who can't read or interpret pictures. So the next time your in a long line, look at the people directly in front of you and help them out. If the guy has a huge belt buckle the size of Texas make a polite comment about it and suggest it will alarm the metal detector and they might want to take it off. Sometimes you have to help yourself.

Scenario #2 Arguing with the TSA officer about what metal really is and complaining that your real gold shouldn't alarm.

Many, and I mean numerous passengers get to the metal detector and alarm and are in complete shock. When the TSA officer explains that the huge hoop earrings, belt buckle, pack of gum, cigarrette pack or cell phone are what is causing the alarm, the passengers scoff at the idea. Trust the officer all those things are metal. Tin foil is metal, lithium batteries in cell phone are metal, gold (this is an arguement had way too often) is metal. Fake metal is still metal. I always love the gold arguement. The passengers who say, "but it is real gold it can't alarm". They say this like the metal detector can somehow differeniate real gold from fake gold. For the record....it can't. Metal is metal so when you are told to take off all metal it really means all metal there are little execptions. You can safely leave on your wedding rings (the guys are real quick to take these off), a small chain or small earrings but the big clunky watches, chains and earrings need to come off. Gum is wrapped in tin foil so are cigarrettes. Look above tin foil is a metal and will alarm so take the gum and the cigarrettes off your person and put them in the bowl or bin. Argueing about what is metal holds up the line and your looking for a beat down by some harried traveler who knows the rules and just wants to get through security.

Passenger complains about walking on dirty floor. Solution wear socks!!!!

Passenger complains about jewelery will be stolen if they put it in the bowl. Solution put it in your carry on bag or leave it at home.

Passenger complains about being selected for additional screening. Get over it. It really is random. Somedays a guy with a beard would piss me off and for the rest of the day anyone with a beard got selected. Each officer running the metal detector gets to pick what the criteria is so each lane is different and every thiry minutes to an hour a different person is in charge of the metal detector. So it is truly random, you are not being picked on. If you act like an ass in line then yeah you will probably get some extra attention but then you deserve it. TSA officers are not allowed to profile and we are told not to profile. Does it happen you ask????? Well, honestly, it probably does. If you look shifty and you happen to be from the middle east then yeah you are going to be selected. Profiling is a whole other can of worms I will address in a later post.

Passenger complains that the officer is not repacking the bag exactly how they had it packed. Of course the officer is not going to because they aren't you. They are not memorizing every item and its location in the bag....it is not a contest. They are searching the bag and sometimes it is not going to get repacked exactly like you like it....GET OVER IT.

Passenger complains rather insistently that the TSA officer used amazing slight of hand and stole an item right out the bag. One we are not taught any slight of hand or tricks to steal your stuff and two we don't want your stuff. Check thoroughly before you make this complaint. Almost always the passenger has the item on them they are claiming is stolen. Usually it is in their own pocket. Sometimes another passenger has picked up the wrong bag or item. Rarely is it the TSA employee. I won't say never because that is just unrealistic....their are thiefs in every occupation and TSA is not immune.

Last complaint....Passenger says, "but they let me have it in Toledo or some other city." Ok listen closely. TSA is not consistent across the board. There is a reason for this. Terrorist could easily figure out the rules and then use them against us. TSA tries for some basic consistentcy but you got to mix it up to keep the terrorist guessing. Since I don't know if your a terrorist anymore than you know who the terrorist are TSA mixes it up for everyone. If some well meaning TSA officer let you keep your pocketknife in Toledo it doesn't mean that I am going to let you keep in my airport. You should have taken that as a second chance to get it right and NOT carry the pocketknife. I don't care that some other airport lets you break the rules. You are now in my airport and I don't allow you to break the rules.

Just as the traveling public thinks that TSA officers are monkeys in uniform; TSA officers think they same of you. You see one or two TSA officers....we see thousands of passengers. I never realized how stupid and yes I mean stupid the genearl public can be. I could of said ignorant but that implies that the person is capable of learning the rules. There are passengers who tell you they know the rules, they just thought it would be ok. That is stupid.

TSA focused on customer service for the first few years and it was good to an extent. Complaining though to the front line officers will do you no good. Complaining when you are in the wrong even less good. Just follow the rules and stop complaining. Take your complaints to TSA at http://www.tsa.gov/ where your complaint might actually get listened to because those officers on the frontline are not listening.

Former TSA Employee Full Disclosure for TSA Blog

I started this blog for a variety of reasons, some personal and some for the public good. I am new to blogging so I am just learning the ropes. I would like people to read and know what really goes on with TSA. In order for you to know that I really know, a friend suggested I write a post about me and how it is I know.

Here is my disclosure, I say full, but I did work for TSA so legally there are some things I just can't say. Although jail couldn't be any worse than working for TSA, I am not going to take the chance on being wrong.

I worked for TSA for almost 5 years. I was the first class that took over an International Airport from private screeners. I have seen it all the good, the bad and the ugly. I have worked in the checkpoint, in baggage and in the Cargo area. Yes, I was the annoying officer who made you take your shoes off, patted you down and took away your property. Clarification so I don't go to jail. I disposed of properly and informed surrending of items that were not allowed on the plane.

I took the job because well it is a Federal job and who wouldn't. The pay and benefits rivaled anything in the area that I was qualified for. I enjoyed what I did, that is the protecting the public part of it. I didn't enjoy the smelly shoes, used baby diapers (yes people actually put used baby diapers in their bags), and being yelled at and accussed of violating people.

After a few years it became evident that a grave injustice and hoax was being perpetrated on the traveling public and the employees who worked for TSA. I decided to speak up for the masses which anyone can tell you is not the way to get employee of the year. Due largely to this I was terminated from TSA.....Hold on though don't stop reading yet.

I know that you might read terminated and instantly dismiss what I write as just being the crazed rantings of a disgruntled former employee. That is the furthest from the truth. This is exactly the reaction that TSA wants. When an employee becomes more vocal about TSA's shortcomings and starts to go to the Press and the public then TSA fires them. TSA's goal is to make the public believe the person is just disgruntled and therefore should not be trusted or believed. It might be true in some cases but it is not true in this case.

TSA in a way did me a favor. I allowed my own selfish greed keep me in a job that I was unhappy with and no longer believed in or supported. Fear of what I would do if I didn't have the job also kept me from really saying what was going on. Well, TSA took that fear away when they terminated me. I am not mad at TSA and I am not disgruntled.

You probably don't know but TSA has a policy that says TSA employees can't post things on the web that are bad about TSA. The policy says TSA employees can't make TSA look bad on duty or off duty even if it true. While I was employed with TSA I couldn't do this. Doing this would have gotten me fired. Now though I am free to say whatever I want (ok not whatever there is always the dreaded SSI that can get me put in jail).

I can't discuss fully why I was terminated yet. My termination is under appeal and discussing the specifics could cause some distress to that appeal. However, I will sort it all out and figure out what I can disclose and what I can't. If you are wondering why I am appealing for a job I was unhappy with well it is about the benefits. I was close to five years, very very close and TSA local managment went out of their way to ensure I didn't reach that five years. It would also be nice to clear my name just for me. I could care less what TSA thinks of me but what my children think of me is important and I want them to know that standing up for your rights and the rights of others is a good thing.

I will try to make this blog interesting and funny as well as informative. Check out the tips for getting through security they are very helpful.

Happy Travels.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

How to get through security from an TSA employee

I worked for TSA for almost five years and I have seen just about everything. I will keep the funny stuff of things I have seen for a later post. Things people ask the most of me is how to get through security like there is some secret handshake I can reveal. There is no secret handshake but there are some basic things you can do to get through it all with little harassment. The basics of take off your shoes, take out your liquids and take out your laptop should already be known so here are few that aren't well advertised on the TSA signage.



1. Don't put sex toys in your carry on luggage. There will be fits of giggling behind your back which slows things down. There is also that one employee who doesn't know it is a sex toy and waves it around for all your fellow passengers to see.



2. Don't put illegal drugs in your carry on luggage or hide them well. TSA is not actively looking for these but if found they have to be reported. Hide them in something and not a clear plastic baggie if you have to carry them on the plane. The front pocket of your carry on bag is not hiding them either. When TSA says empty your pocket of all metal items....DRUGS are not metal keep them in your pocket!!!!



3. Don't hit on the TSA employees. This mainly applies to the men out there. The females employees are not going to pat you down no matter how many times you ask. All it does is encourage the employee to take the time to find the gayest employee on duty to pat you down. This takes time and slows down your move through security.



4. Don't lie to the TSA employee. This should be common sense but it is seen daily. If you have a pocketknife and you are asked where it is, don't lie and say you don't have one. Daily we would find items that are not allowed and in order to expedite the screening process we would simply ask the passenger to tell us where it is. We still have the search the bag but it will go faster if you just tell the truth. A two minute search can turn into a 10 minute search if you lie.



5. Don't demand to go to the front of the line because your plane is leaving. TSA employees don't care. It is not that we don't want to care we just can't. If your running late ask the airline ticket agent to take you to the front of the line because that is what they do. If there is no agent your not moving up. If we let you move up then we have to listen to every passenger behind you complain. No thanks, can't do it and won't do it.



6. This goes along with number 5. If you get selected to be searched or have your bag searched don't complain just do what your told. Complaining slows down the process alot. We will listen to you complain and while listening we will not be searching. After your done with your rant then the search will start. NOTE the length of your rant is directly related to the amount of time you will spend in the security line. Just so you know...the employees can't do anything about your complaint. Take it the supervisor or call TSA directly and complain.



7. Check your outfit before you leave the house!!!! The amount of metal you are wearing is also directly related to the amount of time you will spend in the security line. Suspenders....PLEASE don't. You are walking through a METAL detector. Every piece of metal you have on has to come off. If you chose to wear outfits with metal belts or chains that are permanently attached then expect extra treatment.



Now that you have a little more knowledge hopefully your next trip through the security line will be faster and maybe a little easier.

Collective Bargaining For TSA Employees

I am new to blogging so forgive the first few until I get the hang of it. TSA was created by Congress with taxpayer money so as taxpayers you should definitely have a say. In order to have a say you have to know. I am here to let you know what really goes on with TSA.



I picked collective bargaining as my first entry because it is one of the most recent issues. Everyone wants to be safe on the plane just as everyone wants to drive a safe car. TSA is window dressing that is trying to be security. Don't get me wrong TSA has been trying hard and you do get some amount of security but for the money we pay it should be better. Everyone knows to have a good product you have to have good people making it. TSA has good people but such bad management that the good people and ultimately the product suffers.



TSA employees only want the same protections that every other Federal employee has. TSA employees suffer from constant changes in policies that should have been set in stone when TSA was developed. Now the naysayers state that collective bargaining will hurt and hinder security. Those naysayers happen to be the people who benefit the most from the complete power, no oversight and no laws to follow enviroment that Congress gave them.



For the naysayers, TSA employees on the front lines want set policies regarding things like overtime pay, FMLA protections, ADA protections, EEO protections, leave policies that don't change monthly, privacy protections, disciplinary protections and most importantly protection from retaliation. Those things don't hinder security they make it better. TSA employees don't have those basic rights. Some of them like FMLA and EEO are granted but not followed and there is no recourse for TSA not following the laws. TSA created its own EEO, if that is not the crazy runing the asylum then I don't know what is.



Let these employees walk into work and know what is going on. TSA says they need flexibility to hire and fire well they certainly have it that now. Unfortunately, TSA is abusing that flexibility and what do you do when someone abuses their power????? You take it away from them. Collective bargaining would put in the checks and balances that Congress in their haste left out. TSA employees need recourse for the actions taken against them. If Congress wants to allow TSA to have full rights and powers and not adhere to basic federal laws then at least give the employees an chance to challenge those powers when they are being abused.



Any readers out there that have any politically influence (and that is everyone who votes) look into the collective bargaining debate and decide for yourselves then take a stand. Poor morale leads to poor work product and poor employees. Speak up for better security.