airport screener

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Lawmakers Blast TSA Over 25K Security Breaches

Agency providing poor security at great expense, critics say

(Newser) - There have been more than 25,000 known security breaches at American airports since the Transportation Security Administration was created in 2001, agency officials told a House committee probing security shortcomings. The breaches include 14,000 people who have found their way into sensitive areas and 6,000 travelers who...

Stun Gun Found on JetBlue Plane

No word yet on how it got past TSA on flight from Boston to Newark

(Newser) - More bad press for the TSA? Possibly: A stun gun somehow made it onto a JetBlue flight from Boston to Newark last Friday, the Star-Ledger reports. The crew found the weapon tucked into a seat back as the plane was being cleaned after a late-night flight. A Port Authority spokesperson...

Cops: TSA Agent Took $50K in Electronics From Bags

He allegedly sold iPads, cameras online—often before his shift ended

(Newser) - Passengers traveling through a Florida airport might have noticed their luggage feeling a little lighter upon landing. Police say a TSA agent at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was caught shoving a passenger's iPad down his pants, and that's just the beginning, reports CBS Miami . The agent—responsible for...

TSA Makes Elderly Woman Remove Adult Diaper

Woman, 95, was sick and in a wheelchair

(Newser) - The latest TSA horror story: A 95-year-old, wheelchair-bound, 105-pound woman—who has end-stage leukemia, to boot—was forced to remove her adult diaper during a pat-down at a Florida airport last weekend. Wheelchairs are always swabbed for explosives and their passengers patted down, a TSA spokesperson says. Jean Weber’s...

TSA Pats Down 6-Year-Old
 TSA Pats Down 6-Year-Old  
Apr 13, 2011 10:10 AM CDT

TSA Pats Down 6-Year-Old

Anna Drexel cried after procedure, mom says

(Newser) - A video getting quite a bit of attention today shows a TSA agent patting down a 6-year-old girl. The video was posted on YouTube yesterday, Jezebel notes, and it shows the New Orleans agent running her hand over Anna Drexel's chest, groin, and inside her waistband. When asked by...

NH Bill Would Make Some TSA Workers Sex Offenders

Full-body scans, pat-downs would be considered sexual assault

(Newser) - New Hampshire lawmakers debated a bill last night that would classify airport security pat-downs and full-body scans performed "without probable cause" as sexual assault, and punish any TSA employees who conducted them. "Let’s put their name on the sex offender registry, and maybe that will tell them...

Rodents: The New Airport Bomb Sniffers

In Israel, mice being trained to detect explosives, drugs

(Newser) - Which would you rather be exposed to: those pesky new “naked” airport scanners , or … rodents? In Israel, mice are being trained to sniff out bombs and drugs, in a system researchers say will be more accurate than pat-downs, x-rays, or sniffer dogs. The mice would be hidden in...

TSA Just Wanted Closer Look at My Boobs: Flier

Woman claims agents were ogling her before extra screening

(Newser) - It was only a matter of time before this TSA complaint came out: A woman claims she was selected for further screening ... because the TSA agents liked her breasts. Eliana Sutherland was flying out of Orlando International Airport when she saw two male agents staring at her chest, the Daily ...

Profiling, Not Pat-Downs, Key at Most World Airports

Including Israel's airport, one of the world's best at security

(Newser) - Ditching the TSA's new security procedures in favor of profiling seems like a controversial move —despite a new poll showing 70% support the idea —but at most world airports, that's how it's done. Airports like Israel's Ben-Gurion International, widely considered to be one of the world's most effective...

64% Support Full-Body Scanners

Pat-downs, however, are less popular: new poll

(Newser) - Despite the uproar over the TSA's enhanced security procedures, a new poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans actually support the new full-body scanners. Even so, only 48% believe the enhanced pat-downs are justified, according to the Washington Post -ABC News poll. Some 68% of those surveyed said the government...

Man Skips Pat-Down, Opts for Strip-Down

And he's now facing charges

(Newser) - Not a big fan of full-body scans or TSA pat-downs, a San Diego man chose Option C: Stripping down to his Calvin Kleins to demonstrate he wasn't carrying anything untoward in them. Samuel Wolanyk was told to put his clothes back on for a proper pat-down, but refused to dress,...

TSA Searches Shirtless Boy
 TSA Searches Shirtless Boy 
Nov 22, 2010 1:23 PM CST

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Airport Screener Out of Job After Prank

Teased passenger with fake bag of drugs

(Newser) - 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...

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...

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