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NEWS ABOUT: airport screener

TSA Searches Shirtless Boy

Youngster's father removed shirt 'in frustration,' says filmer

(Newser) - Another day, another inconvenient video for the TSA to explain: In this one, a shirtless young boy is patted down by a TSA agent at the Salt Lake City airport. Luke Tait, who filmed the video with his cell phone and posted it on YouTube, writes in the video description... More »

Get Ready for Big Delays on 'National Opt-Out Day'

Even a small number of participants could tie up lines

(Newser) - You may want to get to the airport really early on Wednesday: With the country in a fervor over the TSA's new enhanced security procedures, experts believe "National Opt-Out Day" will indeed create delays at dozens of major airports. The day, conceived by Brian Sodergren (who, ironically, will not... More »

So How Many Terrorists Has the TSA Actually Caught?

None—that it's publicized, at least

(Newser) - There's no denying that the country is in an uproar over the TSA's new heightened security procedures, raising one fairly obvious questions: Does the TSA actually catch terrorists? The answer isn't very clear-cut, writes Juliet Lapidos in Slate 's Explainer column. The TSA won't cite any specific instance when it... More »

Guy Busted for Punching TSA Officer

John Christina says jab to the chest was just a joke

(Newser) - Amid the uproar over TSA agents getting a little too physical with passengers' groins, one would-be flier got a little too physical with a TSA agent on Tuesday. Cops arrested John Christina after he allegedly punched a TSA officer in the chest after passing through a body scanner at Indianapolis... More »

TSA Database Tracks Surly Air Travelers

Throw a tantrum and the feds will make note of it

(Newser) - Mind your manners at the airport or it's going on your permanent record. The TSA has a 3-year-old database with information on passengers who pitch a fit during screening by threatening employees or, say, kicking equipment, reports USA Today . So far it's logged 240 incidents, and privacy advocates are predictably... More »

Screeners Will Roam Airports, Test Random Fliers

Portable detectors will take swabs from hands, luggage

(Newser) - TSA screeners will take a more proactive approach to finding explosives in airports under a new security program. Screeners will walk around airport gates and security lines with portable explosives detectors, taking swabs from random passengers' hands and luggage. The security agency first ran a test of the program after... More »

TSA Forces Disabled Boy to Remove Leg Braces

Police officer complains of TSA overkill

(Newser) - A developmentally delayed child was forced to remove his leg braces at the airport to prove he wasn't a security risk. "Unfortunately, it's no joke," writes Daniel Rubin for Philly.com . The child, Ryan, was en route to Disney Land to celebrate his fourth birthday when TSA officials... More »

Airport Screener Out of Job After Prank

Teased passenger with fake bag of drugs

(AP) - A college student returning to school after the winter break fell victim to a prank at Philadelphia's airport by a TSA worker who pretended to find a plastic bag of white powder in her carry-on luggage. The worker is no longer employed by the TSA, said a spokeswoman, who declined... More »

Newark TSA Guard Briefly Stopped Intruder

Tape comes from Continental; airport cams were down

(Newser) - The Newark TSA agent who allowed an unidentified man to enter the secure zone through an exit, setting off an hours-long alert, had stopped the interloper just minutes before and was chatting on his phone when the man breached security. The man kissed a departing traveler goodbye and then went... More »

'Suspicious' Honey Closes Calif. Airport

Airport evacuated after 'amber substance' found in bag

(Newser) - California's Bakersfield airport was evacuated and shut down for hours yesterday after security staff became suspicious of honey in a man's luggage. The passenger, a gardener who had been carrying the honey in Gatorade bottles, was released after questioning, Reuters reports. Authorities trying to figure out why the honey made... More »

Security Scare Closes Newark Airport Terminal

Screening resumes, but man who entered through exit still at large

(Newser) - A Newark Liberty Airport terminal has reopened after a man used a screening exit to enter the facility, setting off a massive manhunt and lockdown. The man had not been located as of around midnight ET. Screening of passengers in Terminal C, which mostly handles Continental traffic, resumed at 10:... More »

Ignore 'Privacy Ideologues,' We Need Body Scans

Passengers are at risk without them, says Michael Chertoff

(Newser) - For one former director of homeland security, it's a no-brainer: President Obama must ignore "privacy ideologues" and put full-body scanners at the nation's airports. Otherwise, it's just a matter of time before al-Qaeda strikes successfully with plastics explosives, writes Michael Chertoff. The notion that these imagers amount to "... More »

Feds Threaten Bloggers Over Leaked Air Security Memo

Agents squawk about memo sent to airlines, airports

(Newser) - Two bloggers who posted details of new airport security directives online were visited at home by agents from the Transportation Security Administration demanding to know their sources. Armed agents vowed to obtain a criminal search warrant if travel writer Mike Frischling didn't identify his source and threatened to get him... More »

Debate Rages Over 'Strip Search' Airport Scans

Detroit bomb plot pits security against privacy

(Newser) - Next-generation body scanning devices are coming to more American airports, triggering another heated debate over privacy versus security in the wake of the terror attack on a Detroit flight. Experts say the devices, which can detect objects under clothes, could have stopped the attempted Detroit attack. Critics warn that the... More »

Airport Security Secrets Posted Online

Probe launched after mix-up reveals sensitive information

(Newser) - The federal Transportation Security Administration is investigating a mix-up that revealed agency secrets relating to airport passenger screening in an online posting. A security manual posted on a government website in March with sensitive information—including technical settings for explosive detectors—redacted was removed days ago when the agency realized... More »

Airport Seize Your Stuff? Look for It on eBay

TSA's confiscated items end up being sold via state agencies

(Newser) - From knives to baseball bats to cake-cutters to corkscrews, and including at least one kitchen sink, the Transportation Security Administration confiscates around a million items from air travelers every month, CNN reports. Guns are turned over to law enforcement and shampoo bottles end up in the trash, but the rest... More »

8 Years On, Critics Call Airport Security 'Theater'

Critics see cockeyed focus on 'pointy objects,' none on real threats

(Newser) - Billions of dollars in spending since 9/11 has given airport security officers plenty of ways to catch terrorists—but are critics right in calling it "security theater"? Take the “millimeter wave whole body imager,” which pinpoint “anomalies” on your person: Sure, it will spot a... More »

Airport Body Scanners May Replace Metal Detectors

(Newser) - Full-body scanners may eventually replace standard metal detectors at airports, USA Today reports. The feds are experimenting with machines that look through clothing for hidden guns or bombs—especially those made of plastic that can elude metal detectors. Tulsa's airport has the scanners now, and San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami,... More »

Airport to Sort Travelers Into Fast, Slow Lanes

Signs, borrowed from slopes, aim to let fliers choose most appropriate page

(Newser) - Travelers using Chicago’s Midway Airport are finding a curious new addition to security lines, the Tribune reports—ski-slope-like signs meant to funnel travelers into different lines based on how quickly they're likely to be able to speed through. They're color coded to the “difficulty level” of each option:... More »

LAX Readies 'Strip Search' Scans

'Total body imaging' devices look under clothes for weapons

(Newser) - New technology will allow screeners at Los Angeles International Airport to scan passengers with a device that effectively looks beneath their clothes, the LA Times reports. The “whole body imaging” machines are drawing mixed reviews—a TSA spokesman praised the "brand-new security tool," but an ACLU rep... More »

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