On its blog, the TSA has defended its practice of randomly screening beverages purchased by passengers in secured areas of airports after passing through security check points. You know, just in case that barista turned your latte into a bomb or something.
Under what TSA's "Blogger Bob Burns" calls "Not a big deal really..." passengers might be pulled out of line at the gate during boarding so that TSA can screen beverages they acquired after passing the security checkpoint, in supposedly secured areas of the airport.
According to Bob, the practice is just another one of TSA's layered security measures designed to be "unpredictable" thus making it harder for terrorists to plan for in trying "to do malice to the transportation infrastructure."
"If everything we did was always the same, it would provide a checklist for people to know exactly what to expect," wrote Bob. "While this would be extremely helpful for passengers, it would also be useful to those wishing to do us harm."
In the screening process, which Bob says will take just "few moments of your time before boarding your flight," a TSA agent holds a non-toxic, chemically treated test strip over the beverage opened by the passenger. As Bob stresses, the test strip never actually touches the beverage. "If the test results are positive TSA will conduct additional testing to make a final assessment," says Bob.
Bob also assures that at-the-gate screening is random and "isn't happening at every airport every day."
But doesn't screening drinks purchased in secured areas of the airport seem a bit redundant? "On the surface, it does seem that way, and it's the first logical thought that many have," admits Bob. "However, any security expert will tell you that nothing is ever 100% secure. So, gate screening is kind of like our safety net to keep up with anybody who might be trying to get things past conventional screening."
Also See:
TSA Now Conducting Random Behavioral Screening
TSA Expands Whole Body Scanner Searches
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Comments
So if a passenger buys a drink from a merchant inside the “sterile” area and it tests positive, who gets the gaterape gropedown? The passenger or the merchant? Who is subjected to the “additional screening?”
Just another excuse for petty tyrants to terrorize innocent Americans.
“Uncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government. Among deprivations of rights, none is so effective in cowing a population, crushing the spirit of the individual and putting terror in every heart.”
Justice Robert Jackson, chief U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials
So the pimple faced kid working for minimum wage at the deli would never take big cash just to hand this “special” energy drink to a certain passenger? As Steven Tyler sings, “DREAM ON”!
So, retiredTSO….. how would that pimpled faced minimum wage kid bring that “special drink” to the secured area? Doesn’t he get groped and stripsearched like the rest of us?!?!? By the way, glad to hear you’re retired…..
Now even drinks bought in the “sterile” area can be confiscated and sampled. Is this because their security is so porous that they don’t trust it? Or it is because they allow airport workers to access the area without background checks?
Will they pay the passenger for destroying these overpriced drinks? If they suspect smuggling confiscate the drinks from the vendor for sampling, not the poor citizen already burdened paying for this stupidity.
TSA seems to be deliberately trying to make a farce of their security theater and campaigning to be the most hated government agency in history. TSA needs to be replaced by a reasonable and intelligent agency that actually understands security and doesn’t waste everyone’s time and money making up senseless rules and harassing people.
@Bill Fisher — And what about drinks sold and handed out ON the plane? How carefully and how regularly — if at all — are the vendors who supply these drinks, or the airport workers who load them on the planes screened? Sure, security has to be “layered,” but is seems like the only layer that is ever inconvenienced, patted-down and probed is the passenger layer.
But I thought we couldn’t bring liquids through the checkpoint because there was no way to test them for explosives.
But now that your past the checkpoint we’re going to test your liquids for explosives.
A perfect example of the TSA trying to have it both ways. Heads they win, tails you loose.
The terrorists have already won or we have become a communist country by butting fear in everything. So how do these materials they may put in your drink get into the secure area? So they don’t trust themselves “TSA”? The TSA says they check everything but if things still get thru then what is the point. Whatever we are slowly becoming what we most hate. Soon we will have to carry paperwork to cross our own state lines!
Excessive security measures are killing people every day.
Every TSA policy should be held up to the standard of saving more lives through prevented attacks than it costs in convincing people to forget the whole thing and drive (where they are much more likely to be killed in crashes).
If this common sense policy were applied to everything the TSA does, I expect the entire agency would soon disappear.
Way too many people think they have a certain level of constitional rights when flying. Once you buy your ticket, your “right” by the carrier extends to the ” contract of carriage” that I bet not one person here has read. In addition while air carriers are public owned businesses, the are deeply regulated(as they should be) for safety and performance issues. While inconvenient, the security in place thru out the world has prevented another 2001 tragedy. I am happy go through some inconvenience to ensure the plane I am on does not go down. If you dont like the Tsa go by bus. We all have choices.