Here we see the TSA in Albany, OR in late November on an inspection they say was planned before the Portland case occurred.
See here. The Albany station gets little traffic. The surprise Philadelphia searches of bags occurred in September (see here.) The latter article is really chilling. Delaware River Port Authority Police Chief Mclintock said, “We can conduct any kind of search we want. We could ask TSA to bring wands or X-ray machines like they have in airports, though we don’t think that’s appropriate for PATCO riders at this time.”
You will be delayed or turned away if nitrates are detected, as they are used in explosives. However, many other products have nitrates in them! A woman in a wheelchair was turned away for this supposed reason, although the fact that she was clad only in bra and panties may have had something to do with it. The photo-essay is here.
Among other objections to all this random searching is that it is useless. When and if serious terrorism occurs, it is most likely to arrive in a large-scale form, such as car bombs and IEDs (improvised explosive devices). The FBI doesn’t send its entrapped patsies through TSA checkpoints. Only a brain-dead terrorist or one led around by the FBI will expose him or herself to the TSA. Random searches won’t deter a determined person either, and that implies that the TSA will only make the searches even more pervasive. Combine them with the seizure capabilities of police, and we have a real nightmare in which someone carrying cash and/or other items might find them forfeited to police.
1:12 pm on December 1, 2010
