{"id":128503,"date":"2015-11-04T07:16:43","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T14:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/04\/another-day-another-deserved-lambasting-of-the-tsa.html"},"modified":"2015-11-04T23:02:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T06:02:00","slug":"another-day-another-deserved-lambasting-of-the-tsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/04\/another-day-another-deserved-lambasting-of-the-tsa.html","title":{"rendered":"Another day, another deserved lambasting of the TSA"},"content":{"rendered":"

That said, a couple of thoughts:<\/p>\n

1. If we deem weapon detection (to choose a metric) to be vital, then what is the magic target that we want airport security (of whatever sort) to find? 10%? 25%? 50%? 95%? 100% ? <\/p>\n

What level of intrusiveness and delay are we willing to take in order to reach that metric (esp. since one method of detection being successful will spawn alternatives to penetrate it)? Are there in fact more effective ways than what are being used? <\/p>\n

What level of detection is sufficient to deter hypothetical terrorists?<\/p>\n

2. The TSA gets a lot of grief over this, and rightfully so. But it's often done with an eye toward "if only we had competent airport security people taking care of this," which is a different matter. Recall that craptastic security pre-9\/11 was one of the things that led to that event. Airports bought the cheapest rent-a-cops they could, with minimal training, to brush the donut crumbs off their bulging uniform shirts while squinting at the bag x-rays. <\/p>\n

TSA may not being performing well, but the idea that they are easily replaceable with others who can (especially depending on the metrics we are looking for) is not well-founded.<\/p>\n

3. Is a better metric "how many planes have been hijacked since 9\/11"? Because, in that case, the TSA is doing fantastically.<\/i> Maybe they are just lucky. Maybe they are more effective behind the scenes than any single layer of security indicates. Maybe there is something to the security theater. Maybe there just aren't that many suicidal \/ terroristic hijackers out there to be afraid of.<\/p>\n

If that is the metric, then, again, what is the expected level of performance?<\/p>\n

I don't have any easy answers to this. We know there are<\/i> (or have been)<\/i> people willing to hijack planes and drive them into buildings, or blow them up, or other anti-social acts — but also there aren't very many of them. Assuming we want to stop them, or some substantial part of them, what are we asking airport security to do, and what are we willing to put up with to do it?<\/p>\n

The current arrangement doesn't seem successful, except in the metric of lives lost from hijackings \/ airplane bombings since 9\/11. Is that sufficient? If not, aside from sniping at the apparent incompetence of the TSA (a sport I enjoy as much as the next air traveler), what is proposed instead?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\nTSA airport screeners’ ability to detect weapons declared “pitiful”<\/a><\/span>
\nSecurity measures under “full system review.” Agency considering using dogs.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That said, a couple of thoughts: 1. If we deem weapon detection (to choose a metric) to be vital, then what is the magic target that we want airport security (of whatever sort) to find? 10%? 25%? 50%? 95%? 100% ? What level of intrusiveness and delay are we willing to take in order to … Continue reading “Another day, another deserved lambasting of the TSA”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,720],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-travel-security-tsa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128776,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/12\/is-it-time-to-close-the-tsa.html","url_meta":{"origin":128503,"position":0},"title":"Is it time to close the TSA?","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 12-Nov-15 9:19am","format":false,"excerpt":"The answer, to my mind, is \"No.\" But that comes with an observation and an alternative.The article states:'Fearmongers might howl, but abolishing the agency wouldn\u2019t make air travel less secure. Given the TSA\u2019s 95 percent failure rate, it would likely make it more secure. The airlines themselves should bear the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8192,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/04\/28\/color_me_shocke.html","url_meta":{"origin":128503,"position":1},"title":"Color me shocked","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 28-Apr-05 3:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, I sure feel safer, don't you? Last week, reports from several government departments confirmed what most business travelers and other frequent fliers already knew: after spending more than $5...","rel":"","context":"In "Homeland Security"","block_context":{"text":"Homeland Security","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/homeland-security"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":137042,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/05\/the-germiest-place-in-the-airport-the-security-line.html","url_meta":{"origin":128503,"position":2},"title":"The germiest place in the airport? The security line","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 5-Sep-18 11:53pm","format":false,"excerpt":"All those hands and germs and sighs and growls and stuff make those buckets of x-ray baggage pretty viral, and not in a popular way. And how often do you think those touched-by-everyone buckets get cleaned? I might keep my eyes open for a Purell station after going through my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/tsa-security-line.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49947,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/28\/learning-how-one-can-act-like-a-terrorist.html","url_meta":{"origin":128503,"position":3},"title":"Learning how one can act like a terrorist","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 28-Mar-15 12:47pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Clearing your throat? Looking nervous? Recently shaved your beard? Wearing inappropriate clothing to the airport?Just step over this way, sir.On the one hand, looking for people displaying \"suspicious behavior\" seems common sense. On the other hand ...... a lot of the behaviors are pretty common at an airport, especially with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130883,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/06\/16\/time-for-your-monthly-analysis-of-the-tsa-and-its-many-problems.html","url_meta":{"origin":128503,"position":4},"title":"Time for your monthly analysis of the TSA and its many problems","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 16-Jun-16 8:51am","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, it's something I circle back to on a regular basis. This particular article does a good job looking at some of the reasons why the TSA has so many problems. (Hint: it's not just because of the TSA.) The TSA Is Bad Because We Demand That It Be Bad\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133953,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/26\/making-flying-less-convenient-but-ostensibly-marginally-safer.html","url_meta":{"origin":128503,"position":5},"title":"Making flying less convenient (but, ostensibly, marginally safer)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 26-Jul-17 1:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Tablets, e-readers, basically anything electronic bigger than a smart phone, will soon have to be pulled out of your bag at the security check. Because that won't slow things down, lead to increased theft, or anything like that.On the bright side, if you are TSA Pre-check, you won't have to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128503"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128506,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128503\/revisions\/128506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}