That's closer to the relevant meaning, although that particular sentence is rather oddly phrased, don't you think? I'll wait until I see this detailed somewhere reputable; you're welcome to share your source.

TSA encounter at SAN

This story infuriates me.

.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71818.html

I don't see any Constitutional questions arising from that extraordinarily brief "detention". (And, to clarify, he missed the flight because he refused to go through security, not because he was detained.)

See, I have issues with this. Under the current system, the TSA is treated like a private security company and an airport is treated like a nightclub or something. This is bull****. These people should be held to the same Terry v Ohio/Probable Cause/4th Amendment restrictions as everyone else in law enforcement is.

The ****in airport is not your private strip club and a duly sworn, on duty law enforcement officer (which a TSA Agent legally is) has no cause to deny entry without probable cause. Also they should not be able to detain without articulatable reasonable suspicion.

ETA: I want a system where TSA has to provide a defense that meets a 4th amendment/Terry v Ohio standard as to why he should've been subjected to such searches anyway.

I find this fact disturbing. I've always thought TSA agents were just minimum wage cogs in the machine. Are the standards for becoming a TSA agent in line with the standards for becoming other types of law enforcement officers?

The average TSA agent seems leagues dumber than any cop I've ever encountered. Personnel-wise, the TSA seems a lot closer to the DMV than the police.

Disregard. I stand corrected. They are not LEOs. Air Marshals work under the TSA, and are the "primary enforcement arm" per the website.

To answer your question about requirements:

Applicants must meet these qualifications in order to be futher evaluated in the TSO hiring process:


Be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National at time of application submission;

Be at least 18 years of age at time of application submission;

Be proficient in the English language (i.e., able to read, write, speak, and listen);

Have a high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) credential OR at least one year of full-time work experience in the security industry, aviation screening, or as an X-ray technician.
TSA job posting.

So essentially, if you're a 19 year old HS drop out with one year in the security industry, who's a literate US citizen, you qualify.

The reason I thought they were LEO's is because I've encountered one who was murdered, and the FBI took over the homicide investigation, which is usually reserved for "Federal Agents".

Just heard Rand Paul was stopped by TSA for something on his knee.

Too funny.

my pony is slow tho.

A little girl crying and screaming "don't touch me" while a TSA agent molests her. This isn't the exception: This is the norm in Gestapo America. I don't see how any checkpoint in Nazi Germany could have been any worse.

"The men who are to protect the community against violent aggression easily turn into the most dangerous aggressors. They transgress their mandate. They misuse their power for the oppression of those whom they were expected to defend against oppression."
- Ludwig von Mises

That statement requires both a tremendous failure of imagination, and also a tremendous ignorance of history. I can't tell which one is worse. So well done!

Goes right for the nazi fascism accusations. Pretty weak, these checkpoints are nothing like what you would have to deal with any historic fascist nation.

Sholar, do you believe TSA agents make you safer when you fly?

No but guns in the cockpit do.

I'd agree with this.

Yes, let's give underpaid, overworked, overstressed pilots the responsibility to take control over their plane if an incident occurs good plan.

What makes us safer is a cockpit door that keeps people from getting in there. The only thing left is finding explosives. Guns in cockpit don't help there.

tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzwien

9/11 style attacks will never happen again, and by that I mean people hijacking passanger airplanes and using them as weapons against larger targets. That will just never happen again. The pilots wouldn't let it happen again, the passengers wouldn't let it happen agian, the military wouldn't let it happen again.

Terrorists blowing up or crashing a plane, ya that could still happen.

I'll grant the latter, but I dont believe I've ever heard conplaints pilots are "underpaid" before.

It's actually a pretty major complaint, lately. I was surprised too, but it appears to have some validity.

Easy game. Raise airline ticket prices 20% and give the pilots a nice raise. Is anyone really gonna quit flying?

Pretty much all of them except the guys at the very top of the seniority ladder are overworked and the guys at the bottom make dick.

I'm no pilot, but if I was, in the event of a hijacking, I'd like the responsibility that comes with having the strongest weapon.

"The lowest top-scale captain’s salary was $123,480 at JetBlue Airways, and the highest among passenger airlines was again at Southwest: $181,270 a year. Many Southwest pilots pick up more trips than the minimum scheduled -– some fly right up to the federal limit of 1,000 hours of flying a year -– so their actual paychecks are higher."

http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009...captain-earns/