The Civilized Explorer aggregation

Who will guard the guards?

KYW in Philadelphia reports that a man removed from his ministry by the Catholic Church is now working for the TSA.

He was accused of molesting two young girls and is now the subject of a civil suit by a third woman claiming he molested her in her pre-teen years. No criminal charges were filed against the TSA employee, so on criminal background check would find out about the civil lawsuits filed on behalf of the first two girls. The Camden Diocese settled those actions.

The TSA says the man’s title is “Transportation Security Manager, Baggage.” It may be that he does not do passenger screening.

It’s worse than the headline sounds. The “airport worker” was actually the supervisor of about 30 security guards at Newark Liberty Airport.

Law enforcement authorities involved in the investigation say Nigerian Bimbo Oyewole began using the identity of Queens, N.Y., resident Jerry Thomas three weeks before Thomas was shot and killed in 1992.

Mr. Oyewole stole the identity to mask his own identity as an illegal immigrant. His employer, FJC Security, says he passed all background checks.

An airport employee who was familiar with Oyewole as Thomas said the private security guards he supervised are responsible for manning TSA security checkpoints after passenger gates close for the evening and before they reopen in the morning.

As I occasionally ask, who will guard the guards?

Oh, great. After boarding with their daughter, to adults from New Jersey were told by a stewardess that the TSA requested their presence back in the terminal because of their daughter. After standing around for a half hour, the three were told they could re-board.

JetBlue says it was a TSA issue and that the daughter is on the no-fly list. TSA says nope. The little girl was issued a boarding pass, so it’s not a TSA issue, it’s an airline issue, according to the TSA. The airline says it’s investigating why the TSA ordered the little girl off the plane. The TSA says it’s not investigating because it’s an airline issue.

The mother wears a hijab, and the couple claims humiliation from being kicked off the plane and being made to stand in a detention area for a half hour. Although they are of “Middle Eastern descent,” all three were born and raised in New Jersey and are Americans.

So let the finger-pointing begin. Who removed the little girl (and therefore her parents) from the plane. And who will direct the new comedy of errors, “Hijabs on a Plane”?

TechDirt summarizes this .pdf document:

Basically, it sounds like the TSA likes to go on giant spending sprees, buying up security equipment and then never, ever using it.

Fear-mongering by revolving-door government bureaucrats-cum-lobbyists seems to have resulting in purchases which are now unaccounted for. Of the pieces that have been accounted for, 85% has been in storage for over six months, and a third has been warehoused for over a year. TSA management says they also purchased more than they needed to get bulk discounts.

I ask occasionally, who will guard the guards. It is clear that no one is doing that.

Savannah, who is a type one diabetic and wears an insulin pump 24 hours a day, says she ran into TSA agents who were not prepared to deal with her medical situation.

The TSA admins keep assuring us that the TSA employees are thoroughly trained, and the admins keep assuring us after every gaffe that they’ll train some more. But stuff like this keeps happening.

The teen, Savannah Barry (age 16) carries doctor’s letter advising TSA employees not to put Ms. Barry through the X-ray machine, but they did it any way, then did a manual search, which is what she had been requesting. However, the X-rays broke her pump, as the letter said they would.

After putting her through the X-ray scanner, they decided to do a manual search and extended pat-down, which is what Ms. Barry requested in the first place. The reason: she has liquids and insulin which the pump uses, and the employees didn’t know what to do about those materials.

My lesson from this is that there’s no effective training for TSA employees. They don’t know what to do when faced with scenarios they haven’t trained for. This is a huge security hole, and I expect terrorists are taking note.

Jaunted points out that US Airways is selling “preferred access” to boarding for the starting price of $10 per leg per person. No, not your leg; each leg of the trip you’re on. So the price can run up. 

You get preferred ticket counters, preferred screening, and Zone 1 boarding (but not first boarding).

Ah, yes, it days gone by (the early 60s if I’m reading this right), celebs _wanted_ to be photographed arriving at the airport. And this photographer could go right out on the tarmac and take the pictures as the star walked down the steps from the plane. Remember those days?

You have to scroll way down to “All Customers - Airport Gate Purchase,” but there it is: As of November 6, 2012, carry on bags are a hundred bucks if you haven’t paid when you get to the gate. The basic price for a carry on is $40. Checked bags are $38. Do you think there’s a message here?

Sikhs think they are unfairly targeted as a group by the TSA because of their beards and turbans. So there’s an app to report religious profiling. 

The TSA, of course, says it’s all about bulky clothes and scarves.