Where do they find such incredibly brainless workers? And why are they not immediately fired (along with their supervisors) for such absence of judgement?
B http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2011/04/tsa-screening-controversy/15 5793/1?csp=Travel TSA under fire for enhanced patdown of 6-year-old girl Comments <http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2011/04/tsa-screening-controversy/1 55793/1?csp=Travel#uslPageReturn> 725 By Ben Mutzabaugh <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/reporter/Ben+Mutzabaugh> , USA TODAY Critics are again taking aim at the Transportation Security Administration's screening procedures, this time after an enhanced pat-down of a 6-year-old girl was caught on video and posted on YouTube. The incident in question happened earlier this month when the vacationing Drexel family was returning home to Kentucky from New Orleans' Armstrong International Airport. That's when 6-year-old daughter Anna was selected for additional screening. The Associated Press <http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011/04/US-parents-Agent-frisked-o ur-6-year-old-daughter/46077166/1> writes: The couple posted a video of the search on YouTube. It shows a TSA agent patting down the child and explaining the procedure to the girl and her parents. The screener says that she will use the back of her hands on sensitive areas and will "put my hand in the waistband." The girl's father, Todd Drexel, says Anna was confused by the search and started crying afterward because she thought she'd done something wrong. Mother Selena Drexel says most other passengers near them in the queue were able to pass through security normally. "For some reason Anna was selected for a pat-down, I can only speculate as to why," Selena told ABC's <http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/tsa-frisks-year-parents-speak-13363521> "Good Morning America" this morning. "I did ask for alternatives. I did ask for her to be rescanned," Selena adds. "They just refused and said they were going to do what they were going to do." Even the <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1376131/Cant-just-rescan--Video-sho ws-mother-pleading-TSA-agent-year-old-girl-frisked.html> Daily Mail of London picks up the story, noting mother Selena can be heard asking agents "can't you just re-scan her" before being told "no" by an agent. The New York <http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/04/13/2011-04-13_video_shows_ tsa_agent_give_6yearold_anna_drexel_a_modified_patdown_at_new_orlean.html> Daily News notes the agent shown in the video was professional and very "polite" to the child, though mother Selena tells ABC she was less happy with an off-camera TSA supervisor that balked at other options for Anna. For its part, the TSA says its agents acted as they should have. "TSA has reviewed the incident and determined that this officer followed proper current screening procedures," the agency says in a statement quoted by CNN <http://www.kaj18.com/news/tsa-proper-procedures-followed-in-child-s-pat-dow n/> . Still, the agency adds in the statement that it may seek make some modifications to those procedures going forward. "(In) line with his vision to accelerate TSA's evolution into a truly risk-based, intelligence-driven organization, Administrator (John) Pistole has tasked the agency with exploring additional ways to focus its resources and move beyond a one-size-fits-all system while maintaining a high level of security," the statement continues. And on its agency blog, the TSA says <http://blog.tsa.gov/2011/04/screening-of-6-year-old-at-msy.html> : Recognizing that terrorists are willing to manipulate societal norms to evade detection, TSA has been actively assessing less invasive screening methods for low-risk populations, such as younger passengers, while still maintaining a high level of security. Regardless of the TSA's comments, the Drexels -- and others -- say they'll push for the TSA to change the way it handles young children at airport checkpoints. "A 6-year-old child shouldn't be subjected to this kind of treatment in the first place if there's no reason to suspect her or her parents of being criminals," Marjorie Esman, executive director of the ACLU Louisiana, tells CBS affiliate WWL in New Orleans <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/13/national/main20053444.shtml> . "A child who is visibly, audibly complaining, 'I don't want to do this,' should at the very least be given some privacy," Esman adds, referencing content seen in the video. Another dissenting voice comes from Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security. "I am personally outraged and disgusted by yet another example of mistreatment of an innocent American at the hands of TSA," he says in a statement <http://chaffetz.house.gov/in-the-news/2011/04/youtube-video-reveals-tsas-in vasive-search-of-child-oversight-demands-answers.shtml> . "This conduct is in clear violation of TSA's explicit policy not to conduct thorough pat-downs on children under the age of 13." However, some did defend the TSA. "Privacy experts don't like it at all, the critics call it security theater, but we have to say the screener here appears to be doing her job," CBS News national security correspondent Bob Orr <http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7362604n> is quoted as saying by <http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/04/video_of_tsa_agent_patting_d ow.html> Syracuse.com. "You can't take kids out of the mix, The exemption would point terrorists to a gaping hole in our security...The bottom line is al Qaeda is savvy, study our security system and practices and it's not beyond al Qaeda to use kids." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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