Word: tsa
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...she’s not alone. Ever since the Transporation Security Administration (TSA) implemented new airport security rules in 450 commercial airports in the U.S., women across the country have been subjected to increasingly invasive searches that many decry as bordering on harassment. A recent New York Times article quotes one woman, Heather L. Maurer, who says that after a male screener gave her a full body pat-down, “he lifted my shirt and looked down the back of my pants.” Another, singer Patti LuPone, was forced to remove her shirt even though...
Since September 22, when the new rules took effect, the TSA has already received 250 official complaints, although personal accounts suggest the number may be underreported. The rules were implemented after two Chechen women boarded planes in Russia with bombs at the end of August, killing 90 people. Previously, passengers were randomly selected for secondary screenings, which consisted of having a magnetometer run around the body. Under the new rules, screeners have the discretion to select whomever they want based on “visual observation,” and conduct more intrusive searches...
...often have no choice. Felkins says that a male screener did ask her if she felt uncomfortable being examined by a male. Worrying about missing her flight, she looked around for female screeners, but seeing none in sight, replied, “I guess not.” Furthermore, TSA policy allows passengers to request a private room for examination. But Felkins says she was never informed of that possibility. Worst of all, there’s almost nothing women can do about it. If they complain or refuse to be examined, they often end up being barred from their...
...nation's airlines, meanwhile, are bridling under a new directive from the TSA that takes effect this week. In what the TSA says is an effort to gather all security information in a central clearinghouse to track trends, the agency is demanding that carriers "immediately" report to the TSA each incident that could be considered a security threat. The airlines already report security concerns to the TSA. But they say that being forced to report even minor incidents--and first to the TSA rather than the FBI, which has both the legal jurisdiction to handle crimes aboard aircraft and more...
...TSA says the move is part of an ongoing effort to refine its system for dealing with potential security threats. "It is important that concerns be shared quickly," says Mark Hatfield, a TSA spokesman, "and the TSA is the agency responsible for the security of the entire transportation system." --By Sally B. Donnelly