It's official, the TSA is fielding Behavior Detection Officers to airports to catch terrorists and other people nervous about what they are doing at the airport. The program is a variation of what El Al does in Israel and by all appearances it works. One security expert has long advocated this approach instead of the "take off your shoes & lets scan your naked body" approach we now suffer through at airports. No we won't be giving up that long time illusion of security one gets with body and bag scanning before entering the boarding area.
We are just adding a new layer to it, with a difference, this one that might actually work. Behavior detection officers are trained to focus on behavior and not physical characteristics as part of TSA's Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program.
The BDO program made news in May when it detected a 'fake' soldier in uniform in Florida. But it wasn't too tough. The guy not only had weird stuff on his ACU's but also shoulder length hair. There is no evidence he was a risk to anyone, but TSA catching him might have prevented him having real problems with real soldiers he might encounter.
The bright side is that the paranoid passenger has nothing to worry about in terms of false fears ... they now really are out to get them now if they appear nervous, or demonstrate key body language. The negative side is that if you really want to fly, you continue to check your right to remain silent at the door. Refuse to answer their questions, and you are going to be in for a very, very long day at the airport.
For those of us who generally resent the intrusion of TSA and the facade of safety they represent, and others who have been tempted to tell the TSA the reason for their flight was to attack bunny rabbits in Washington, DC, they are headed for new problems if they let any of that out. Bottom line, you may not not be a terrorist, but you had better act like one would on your best behavior or you will have problems with the BDO system.
We are just adding a new layer to it, with a difference, this one that might actually work. Behavior detection officers are trained to focus on behavior and not physical characteristics as part of TSA's Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program.
The BDO program made news in May when it detected a 'fake' soldier in uniform in Florida. But it wasn't too tough. The guy not only had weird stuff on his ACU's but also shoulder length hair. There is no evidence he was a risk to anyone, but TSA catching him might have prevented him having real problems with real soldiers he might encounter.
The bright side is that the paranoid passenger has nothing to worry about in terms of false fears ... they now really are out to get them now if they appear nervous, or demonstrate key body language. The negative side is that if you really want to fly, you continue to check your right to remain silent at the door. Refuse to answer their questions, and you are going to be in for a very, very long day at the airport.
For those of us who generally resent the intrusion of TSA and the facade of safety they represent, and others who have been tempted to tell the TSA the reason for their flight was to attack bunny rabbits in Washington, DC, they are headed for new problems if they let any of that out. Bottom line, you may not not be a terrorist, but you had better act like one would on your best behavior or you will have problems with the BDO system.
1 comments:
train a terrist to keep a straight face lol. Give me a break another wasted federal job to kill or tax dollars. are BDO even drug tested. hmmm wonder how much power they are given to interupt our lives of normal americans. when there probably more corrupt than anyone at the airport.
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