Police State or something else?

[BOP]

You decide.

Travel | More extensive TSA searches in Sea-Tac Airport rattle some travelers | Seattle Times Newspaper

As she waited for her flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Medford, Ore., last month, Linda Morrison noticed something unusual in the waiting area.

"A lady in a TSA uniform came over, put on her rubber gloves and went up and down the rows of seats, choosing bags to go through," said Morrison, a retired corporate recruiter who lives in Seattle. "She didn't identify herself, didn't give a reason for the search. She seemed to be targeting larger carry-on bags."

Morrison was stunned. She expected to be screened at the designated checkpoint area, or maybe at the gate, where the Transportation Security Administration sometimes randomly checks passengers as they board. This was different. "To me, it just felt like an illegal search performed by a police state," she said.

There's that phrase again: police state. It's being thrown about a lot more since November's pat-down/opt-out fiasco, as public anger over the TSA's new security measures remains high. Which makes the question of whether we're traveling in a police state, or something like it, worth taking seriously.

"Papers, please!"

 

[Lurk]

Or, the TSA folks had gotten the idea to check the bag more thoroughly than they had at initial screening (for whatever reason). Rather than clear the terminal and make everyone go back through formal x-ray-and-all screening, they elected to only check larger carry on bags which had already gone to the gates. Not everything is a conspiracy.

 

[glhs837]

If theres a specific threat that needs to be looked into, thats fine. Random additional searches just because they think they can? No, it has to stop somewhere.

 

[TPD]

and then there is this...
Airport security checks are vulnerable to fake boarding passes, experts warn - The Washington Post

 

[twinoaks207]

Also consider that they may have been acting in response to a specific threat or information that the rest of us aren't privy to (most threats are not publicized believe it or not).

Sea-Tac is close to Russia and has many folks from that side of the world coming through both ways. Not all terrorists are Middle Eastern. America does not have a monopoly on "mafia" and arms dealers come in all nationalities. (One of the links on one of the threads about our slain ambassador mentioned a huge humber of weapons that have gone "missing" recently and are under investigation. Investigate, think, and put some reasoning into place when you read all of these things.)

Do not automatically assume that actions taken by the TSA are a result of someone over-stepping their bounds or because we are heading towards a police state mentality. Some actions are based on very sound reasoning and a sincere effort to protect us all.

 

[ShannonM]

If the checks random or not bother people then don't fly. There are other means of transportation granted they aren't exactly as quick but it is what it is. Lets face it everything we want has a price and the price to fly includes the safety checks. Doesn't make them right or wrong it just is. We don't know the back stories and why they always do them but honestly would you want to know each and every moment in life when you could or could not possibly be compromised? I bet it's a lot more often then you want to believe. And even if known would it make you rethink getting on a plane again?

I personally would rather be safe than sorry.

 

[Railroad]

As much as I dislike all forms of security measures, especially the invasive ones that take up my time and raise my frustration level, my anger isn't so much at the police or TSA or cyber-police, but rather at the people who have done things and attempted to do things that prompted the security measures in the first place. The root cause is the problem, prompting actions which offend my sense of personal liberty. So my take on it is, go ahead and stop me and check me, search my bags, slow down my Internet service, whatever - but catch the bastages that made all this crap necessary.

 

[Merlin99]

If the checks random or not bother people then don't fly. There are other means of transportation granted they aren't exactly as quick but it is what it is. Lets face it everything we want has a price and the price to fly includes the safety checks. Doesn't make them right or wrong it just is. We don't know the back stories and why they always do them but honestly would you want to know each and every moment in life when you could or could not possibly be compromised? I bet it's a lot more often then you want to believe. And even if known would it make you rethink getting on a plane again?

I personally would rather be safe than sorry.

Some of us still believe in the fourth amendment, it's the one that says they need some proof before searching you and your effects.

 

[TPD]

Some of us still believe in the fourth amendment, it's the one that says they need some proof before searching you and your effects.

 

[letmetellyou]

Some of us still believe in the fourth amendment, it's the one that says they need some proof before searching you and your effects.

This has nothing to do with the fourth amendment. You are consenting to have your bag searched when you enter their business. If you don't want to have your bag searched, you don't have to travel that way. The fourth amendment protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures. If you don't want to consent to this, drive your car.

 

[Merlin99]

This has nothing to do with the fourth amendment. You are consenting to have your bag searched when you enter their business. If you don't want to have your bag searched, you don't have to travel that way. The fourth amendment protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures. If you don't want to consent to this, drive your car.

If that we're true then the airline would have the choice of having them there or not. Using your logic you also are allowing police to search your vehicle when using a public road or even your picnic basket when visiting a public park.

 

[letmetellyou]

If that we're true then the airline would have the choice of having them there or not. Using your logic you also are allowing police to search your vehicle when using a public road or even your picnic basket when visiting a public park.

That's ridiculous. Airlines are not owned by the public. They are a private entity.

 

[letmetellyou]

If that we're true then the airline would have the choice of having them there or not. Using your logic you also are allowing police to search your vehicle when using a public road or even your picnic basket when visiting a public park.

One other thing. There are other entities who have to provide public law enforcement in order to do business. Concert venues, football stadiums etc.

 

[Merlin99]

That's ridiculous. Airlines are not owned by the public. They are a private entity.

Yet the airports where they are doing the searching is public.

 

[letmetellyou]

Yet the airports where they are doing the searching is public.

No they are not. They don't search you when you go to the airport. They search you when you purchase a ticket and go through the secure area. Same as they search your bags when you enter a football stadium.

 

[Merlin99]

One other thing. There are other entities who have to provide public law enforcement in order to do business. Concert venues, football stadiums etc.

You're going to have to prove this claim.

 

[Merlin99]

No they are not. They don't search you when you go to the airport. They search you when you purchase a ticket and go through the secure area. Same as they search your bags when you enter a football stadium.

The airports aren't public? And most football stadiums are public / private partnerships.

 

[letmetellyou]

The airports aren't public? And most football stadiums are public / private partnerships.

FedEx field isn't! Yet they pay Prince Georges County officers thousands of dollars every week to provide security.

 

[letmetellyou]

The airports aren't public? And most football stadiums are public / private partnerships.

Have you been searched without probable cause just for going to an airport? I would bet the answer is no. You only were searched after you purchased a ticket and went through the secure area. The area where the airlines rent space.

 

[letmetellyou]

You're going to have to prove this claim.

Prove what? That cops provide security for football games and concerts and are paid by the venue? Really?