Clueless TSA agent had no idea where Washington DC was

reply to post by Zaphod58


Obviously we disagree which is fine. My response to all your points was said long ago

They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. - Benjamin Franklin

We need more Americans like him. Now more than ever.

reply to post by Bassago


I agree, but we had checkpoints, and similar rules for 30 years, and people didn't have a problem with them. Now that they're run by the government, suddenly they're taking our rights, and it's a horrible thing.

reply to post by gunshooter


Actually the link that was in the OP clearly says:

The screeners, who earn up to $30,000 annually, have not requested to carry guns themselves, but they do want an armed security officer present at every checkpoint, Cox said.

The UNION is calling for a new TSA LEO position, not arming the screeners themselves.

reply to post by marg6043


As someone pointed out before, stupidity? Or lack of training?

Starting in November, the District’s driver’s licenses and identification cards are going to be sporting a new look — one quite a bit more subtle than the red-white-and-blue design that’s reigned for about a decade.

www.washingtonpost.com...

Not to mention this little tidbit:

“The rejection of Ashley Brandt’s D.C. driver’s license by TSA because D.C. is not a state has moved collective insult to personal injury,” Holmes Norton said. “The daily disrespect of requiring D.C. residents to pay up on April 15 without a vote in the House or the Senate has now been dramatically personified in the insult to one of our own.”

Source

reply to post by Zaphod58

I agree, but we had checkpoints, and similar rules for 30 years, and people didn't have a problem with them. Now that they're run by the government, suddenly they're taking our rights, and it's a horrible thing.

30-50 years ago you could walk up to the ticket agent and buy a ticket with cash, take on your carry-on without searches and the only checkpoint was the ticket checker as you boarded the plane. Then came the baggage X-Rays and metal detectors to scan people and now we have TSA groping kids, grandparents and the disabled.

While I refuse to submit to any of that it not only infuriates me at what America has become it saddens me beyond words. We have whole generations of kids and now grown adults who have no idea of the freedom they've lost. So in that regard I agree with you, it's a horrible thing.

reply to post by Bassago


It started in 1973 with the Passenger Screening Act. I was a screener from 1998-2001, when I started working the tech side of things. This was prior to the TSA, and we had to do patdowns of the elderly, children, take toys and canes away, pretty much everything that you see the TSA doing, with the exception of some of the equipment they use (some of the equipment we used in a lot more detail than they do, and we had far better training). I agree with your sentiment, but to blame the TSA for it doesn't make sense, as the Act has been around since the 70s, and the same things happened. The biggest difference now is Social Media. When I was a screener you didn't have people tweeting about the patdowns, or other things going on.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Well both, see if you are an American citizen born in the US you have gotten your education in the US, so yes you will know where your president lives.

I was a school teacher.

Now since when the US government have to train their employees for common knowledge or US geography and history when that is the job of the school system.

Something is definitely wrong when now they have to train TSA employees on subjects that most get from attending school in the states.

I guess in my case been American but been born in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico would have the TSA agent arresting me for been illegal. Right? for failure to show a green card.

See where I am coming from, the whole issue is wrong, and it shows that something is lacking during the screening process to be an TSA employee, but like everything most of this jobs requirements are "tell me who you know and you get the job", a friend of a friend of a friend, screening is bypassed.

While it could be just an isolated incident I truly doubt it.

reply to post by Zaphod58


I been traveling since the early 70s when I was nothing but a teen, from PR to NY to visit my grandmother and family members residing in the States, I never ever remember having been pad down at any time ever and I traveled very often during my teen years well into my 30s from the states to PR, after I married my military husband, the last time I traveled was from Orlando to PR in 2006 and still I was never pad down.

Toromos
Not trying to defend the TSA, but my understanding was the DC license was relatively new. Previously, DC residents got Maryland licensees. The agent didn't recognize the license. It might be a failure of training rather than stupidity.

That's not true. She just didn't know. I don't find this that unusual. My son, who just got out of HS, has no knowledge of geography. I sat with him and one of his friends asking simple questions on where cities were. Neither of them would have gotten to far on jeopardy and I'm being kind. It was shameful. I had to stop as I didn't want to embarrass my son too much.
It's fair to say, the new generation is clueless and it's really too bad.

It never said she didn't know where DC is - just whether or not they accepted the DC license (since it supposedly was not "state" license) or whatever... good thing the superviser was within "yelling distance" Lol

reply to post by Bassago

The vocal majority would agree with you.

I'm not one to go in for 'fancy words' and all, but might make an exception in this case. The TSA experienced a failed start and no one had the cajones to shut it down or taper it off. The program hasn't proved its value, and yet it is costing gazillions of dollars, with no observable return on investment.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out TSA employees are sub-par in terms of personnel expectations. Add empowering them with a-thor-i-tae, and you get a pissed-off citizenry. The visionaries behind the TSA should be stripped of their pensions and fined.

Trying to rush-fill 150,000 job vacancies ... sheesh!!

Meanwhile... my Desert Storm veteran brother with a degree and an impeccable work record just submitted to his 8th background check today in search of employment.

Something just doesn't seem right here. How do folks like this make it through today's filtration processes while people like my brother can't find a job to save their lives?

reply to post by Bone75

Meanwhile... my Gulf Storm veteran brother with a degree and an impeccable work record just submitted to his 8th background check today in search of employment.

Something just doesn't seem right here. How do folks like this make it through today's filtration processes while people like my brother can't find a job to save their lives?

TSA is a part of DHS and we have all seen the threat lists they maintain, veterans, 2nd amendment supporters, Ron Paul supporters and the list goes on and on. Not saying it's the reason he can't get hired but it certainly could be.

And in the meantime while unemployed citizens struggle Obama just reduced the fines on companies that hire illegal aliens. Yeah something is wrong with this picture.

reply to post by Snarl


These overreaching bureaucracies all have a similar propensity of self preservation at all costs and exponential growth whenever possible. Especially when someone else is paying the bills.

If TSA was graded on merit as are areas of the private sector they would be dismantled tomorrow. Since it's government backed it will continue to grow as it leeches life, libery and money from the taxpayers until someone stamps it out as the worthless organization it is.

reply to post by marg6043


In three years, working in the checkpoint only as necessary to help out, I can't tell you how many patdowns I had to do, or how many that I had to help with. I lost count it's so many of them.

reply to post by marg6043


So you're telling me that you taught your students to recognize different forms of ID, and that Washington DC is a state?

Go back and reread the article. Especially this part:

“She didn’t seem to know that it was basically the same as a state ID,” she added.

Washington DC is not a state. The screener was told to accept STATE ID. She didn't recognize that DC is accepted as a form of ID for travelling.

reply to post by Zaphod58

C'mon, Zaphod ... You're making excuses for her.

Curious ... since you performed these pat downs yourself. What was the criteria that warranted such action?

A larger question, also, if I may. Why did the TSA want to take my cigar lighter away from me, when I was carrying on-board the last time I flew domestically? LOL

reply to post by Bassago


Washington DC started issuing drivers licenses as of nov 26 2013. This is relatively new and i bet they have a template of the states licenses to verify if its valid and DC was not on the list. See each state has their own protections to verify a valid liscence and he was unable to verify it as legitimate license.It has nothing to do with his knowledge of geography it was a failure of someone to update the license verifications. Just because you dont like the TSA dont blame an employee for following the rules.

Zaphod58

Bassago
Oh yes, on a side note this is the same group that thinks they should have armed guards/agents at every checkpoint. No thanks. TSA union calls for armed guards at every checkpoint

So a lack of geography knowledge means having an armed police officer or private security watching over the checkpoint is dangerous or stupid? How exactly does that work?

No one has called for TSA agents to be armed. They want to put the LEOs back at the checkpoints like it used to be.

Hey, I'm just going by what you posted, you CLEARLY stated they want to put LEO's at checkpoints like it used to be. Well, the way it used to be was not a new breed of armed TSA. These guys were actually airport security, not attached to TSA what so ever. These armed ("TSA") agents will take on a LEO role. Big difference there dear. TSA is TSA is TSA, I never mentioned anything about the monkeys already at the check points, this is about new monkeys who work for the same devil.

reply to post by gunshooter


And the only ones calling for armed TSA agents are the Union heads. The agents themselves came out shortly after the shooting saying that they only wanted the LEOs back at the checkpoints like it used to be. The LEOs are not part of the TSA, they're either private security that is allowed to carry, or they are police department officers.