Covert officers spy on passengers in US airports

Eugen Leitl eugen at leitl.org
Mon Nov 16 08:14:29 PST 2009


http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2009/11/15/covert-officers-spy-on-passengers-in-us-airports/

Covert officers spy on passengers in US airports

A TSA officer keeps an eye on passengers at the Fort Lauderdale airport. One
behavor-detection officer said chatting with travelers allows him to pick up
any potential danger signs. (Carey Wagner / South Florida Sun-Sentinel /
October 19, 2009)

The Transportation Security Administration has admitted to stationing
bbehavior-detection officersb at 161 US airports, including in Miami, Fort
Lauderdale, and Los Angeles.

    The officers can be anywhere, from the parking garage to the gate,
looking for passengers who seem highly nervous or stressed.

If that description seems vague, thatbs because it is. Who isnbt nervous and
stressed out at an airport? After enduring the always colorful commute to the
airport, taking off my shoes, having strangers rifle through my belongings,
setting off the metal detector at least 18 times b and then having some huge
Russian-looking man-woman grope my boobs and ask if my bra has an underwire
(Yes, donbt most bras?) b jamming all of my shit back into my suitcase,
freaking out when the airport changes my gates, and then running back across
the airport to my new gate, I probably also look like a terrorist hell-bent
on destroying the west.

Of course, Ibm not a brown person, so Ibm sure my grumblings of bwanting to
blow up the placeb donbt raise any eyebrows.

TSA wants you to know they donbt focus on nationality, race, ethnicity or
gender, and youbre just going to have to take their word on that.

Officers have been very busy with the program. Last year, they required
nearly 99,000 passengers nationwide to undergo additional screenings. Police
questioned about 9,900 passengers and arrested 813.

As tends to happen when thousands of passengers are targeted, the officers
have caught a few bad apples in these broad sweeps. There was a guy who was
trying to sneak $2.5 million worth of Ecstasy in his carry-on bag. Then there
was a vague story about some guy bolting when he was flagged for secondary
screening. The story never explains why he ran. Though, it does mention that
he broke his arm during the pursuit, and officers found bseveral IDsb on him,
which I guess means he was the next Osama bin Laden.

There is also a story about an officer starting a bfriendly conversationb
with a red-eyed man, who the officer assumed was stoned on the marijuana.
Turns out, the guy was just tired because hebd been on an airplane for a few
hours. bHe was pretty calm,b says the officer.

bWebre not looking for a type of person, but at behaviors,b says Sari
Koshetz, a spokeswoman for TSA. Yet, in order to become a behavior-detection
officer, no background in behavior analysis is required. Officers undergo
four days of behavior training, which includes trying to spot would-be
terrorists, then receive 24 hours of on-the-job training. Basically, itbs
more difficult to get a certificate in unicycle-riding excellence than it is
to become a behavior-detection officer.

And yet webre told these average Joes, who have undergone less than a weekbs
worth of behavior detection training are using only their vast expertise in
behavioral observation b and not their preexisting prejudices or fears b to
harass airport passengers.

The article includes the following statement from some douchebag businessman
named Alex: bHonestly, I havenbt even noticed them. They must be doing a good
job. Itbs better to have more security than not enough.b

Hey, thanks for contributing to the conversation, Alex.

This is the biggest platitude uttered by terrified middle-class people in
America: bIbd rather give up all my freedoms so at least I know Ibm safe!b
These are the people who would happily live in a total police state as long
as they got five minutes each day to check their e-mail: At least theybre
keeping us safe! Oo, my IKEA table was shipped today!

Alexbs bizarre statement would confound the Founding Fathers, who would
likely recoil in disgust when confronted by such a spineless declaration.
Benjamin Franklin once famously said, bHe who sacrifices freedom for security
deserves neither.b I like to imagine hebd then get Alex in a headlock and
noogie him until he screamed that freedom is precious, and worth fighting to
preserve.

What people like Franklin were able to understand is that itbs impossible to
be completely safe all the time unless one willingly surrenders all their
freedoms and hides within a police state, adjunct of an overbearing
government that shields Americans from the world and all her inherent
dangers.

Ironically, Republicans b the supposed fans of small government b
enthusiastically embraced this police state during the Bush administration,
and are now the leading champions of these secret programs designed to bget
the bad guys.b If that means squashing freedom in the process, so be it.

Like most covert programs, therebs no public data available for which
passengers are detained and harassed in this program. We donbt know how many
people of color are detained, or what the programbs success rate is. For all
we know, those 813 arrests came after the unnecessary harassment of 20,000
individuals.

Of the 813 arrests, we donbt know how many are serious criminals, and how
many are petty crooks. Supposedly, at least one of the 813 had a suitcase of
Ecstasy. Are thousands of civil rights violations worth convicting a dude
with a suitcase full of a drug that one British government official called
less dangerous than alcohol?

Ibm sure Alex thinks so.





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