TSA Plays Joke On Traveller At Screening 45
An anonymous reader writes "As a 22-year-old female student at the University of Michigan went through security at Philadelphia International Airport, a TSA worker was staring at her. He motioned her toward him. Then he pulled a small, clear plastic bag from her carry-on — the sort of baggie that a pair of earrings might come in. Inside the bag was fine, white powder. Answer truthfully, the TSA worker informed her, and everything will be OK. After 20 seconds of crying, the TSA agent waved the baggie. It was his, and it was all a joke. Ann Davis, a TSA spokeswoman, said this afternoon that the worker is no longer employed by the agency as of today. She said privacy laws prevented her from saying if he was fired or left on his own."
The Shampoo Bottle is half fool (Score:5, Funny)
What an idiot. This TSA worker lost one of the most fun jobs any wanna-be cop or control freak would ever dream of having. It's the TSA's loss, and Best Buy's gain.
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I have nothing to hide why are you looking (Score:5, Insightful)
This happens all the time (Score:3, Insightful)
Interestingly, Canadian courts have ruled that you have an expectation of privacy [privacylawyer.ca] even when there's drugs in your luggage.
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privacy law (Score:2)
It seems that privacy law nowadays are used to protect just the agents of the government, not the people. Ironically, privacy laws are protecting the same agents whose job duty is to violate the people's privacy. I find this even more outrageous than what the TSA em
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I concur (Score:3, Funny)
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From Star Trek canon or Star Wars canon. Which one is more annoyingly nit-picking?
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The TSA employee should be fired... preferably from a large canon.
I think an officer of the law (despite the fact the TSA are not, they seem to get the same extra rights and privlidges to comit crimes as officers of the law do) should be held to a higher standard.
A TSA agent admitting to having, and showing the evidence of, an ounce of cocaine in a baggie is an amount to be an automatic felony with required prison term and no bail.
He needs to be held accountable for possession of the schedule I drug cocaine, and put in prison accordingly.
If I as a normal citizen were to a
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I pretty sure the "white powder" was something like powdered sugar, not actually cocaine
No, I am pretty positive it was exactly that. Maybe not sugar, but definitely not cocaine. :}
Thus why my entire post was made on that assumption
If *I* ("I" being me personally, not an officer of the law, and not a TSA agent) was to show a bag of white powder (say it is sugar) and state that it WAS cocaine, it is still a crime I would most likely face jail time over, or at least probation and a criminal record.
Stating a substance is a scheduled drug and stating it is in your possession (assuming not a sched
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Ah, but if you sold it as "the good stuff" and never referred to it as an actual drug, you'd probably have a way out......if you can afford a good lawyer.
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Ah, but if you sold it as "the good stuff" and never referred to it as an actual drug, you'd probably have a way out......if you can afford a good lawyer.
You do that, and let us all know how you get on.
Jail Time (Score:5, Insightful)
If I'm not mistaken, making a joke about having something illegal to a TSA agent at the airport can result in large fines and even jail time. In this case, the TSA agent made a "joke" that represented a serious threat to the safety, freedom, long term career and life outcome of a 22 year old girl while in a position of authority and power. Jail time seems frankly appropriate to me.
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Pressure will need to be applied for jail time to occur in this case.
The pressure you can apply is though your congresscritter. Let your congressperson know how you feel on this topic, if you bug them enough they may be motivated to do something about this. Even if they just do it for re-election points, it's still something.
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If I'm not mistaken, making a joke about having something illegal to a TSA agent at the airport can result in large fines and even jail time.
And jail time for the agent is just as appropriate as jail time for someone cracking a terrorism joke in line.
His joke was tasteless, awful, and far over-the-line. Should he be disciplined? Absolutely. Should he be fired? Yeah, probably. Should he be jailed? Um, I don't exactly see him as a "threat to society". He's a callous asshole. It happens.
TSA agents make a nice
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And if he had removed a bag of talcum powder from her luggage, and she had said "it's cocaine", she would be thrown in prison.
If we aren't allowed to make jokes without going to jail for them, they shouldn't be allowed to either.
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Should he be jailed?
Yes.
Clear enough?
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Totally Not funny (Score:1)
Who watches the watchers ? (Score:2, Insightful)
How could someone with a mentality which considers it ok to play such a joke on a passenger even be considered for employment by the TSA ?
Protecting innocent people is a serious business. It would be nice if the people entrusted with it didn't have a high school bully type mentality.
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The U.S. is a big place with lots of people. Bad things are bound to happen no matter how carefully you 'watch the watchers'. Who watches the watcher-watchers?
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I'm right there with you. Unless it is an overseas trip, I will not set foot in an airport. If the TSA had been doing their job on 9/11 all this airplane crap would have never happened. If TSA had done their job when a person with no luggage, no passport, paid for ticket with cash, etc., was allowed to board a flight, there would have been no Christmas bomber.
This is all a very sick, sad joke.
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TSA was created in reaction to the 9/11 attacks, it didn't exist at the time. Furthermore, the private security at the time didn't do anything wrong. Box cutters were not banned items.
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http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2002/2002-11-11-box-cutters.htm>
Pre-9/11 rules barred box cutters
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Airlines failed to enforce existing security guidelines on Sept. 11 that required airport screeners to confiscate box cutters from passengers, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Government rules did not specif
other side of the coin (Score:2)
and how would the TSA take it if someone played a prank on them at a security check point.
the prankster would be in jail.
the guy got off easy.
True terrorist (Score:1)
This employee should be charged with terrorism. Put yourself in the victims shoes. I'm sure that she was fully terrorized.
If a non-bureaucrat did this... (Score:1)
If a person employed in the private sector pulled a stunt like this -- a non-bureaucrat, in other words -- they'd be looking at fines, civil suits, and you bet your ass their NAME would be all over the media. They'd have a hell of a time ever getting employed again.
If such a private person pulled a stunt like this on a bureaucrat, they'd be in jail before you can say "quidditch"
Crap like this makes me invoke NH Constitution, Article 10 [slashdot.org], aka "Right of Revolution".
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Crap. Botched my link.
http://www.nh.gov/constitution/billofrights.html [nh.gov]