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Time to Close the Security Theater

blogs.forbes.com

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Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#11

Post by bruce511 »

maeon3 wrote: post #8

The problem with airport security in America is that they search for "Dangerous Items", not "Dangerous People". A dangerous person is allowed on an American flight if he/she doesn't have any dangerous items with him. In my opinion, a motivated group of guys could take a plane hostage with nothing but car keys, ju jitsu and some creative thinking. I'm not saying searching for the dangerous person is superior to search…

Actually, they only search for dangerous items coming through one door. Do you think every person, product or vehicle that enters an airport goes through the same scrutiny as the passengers?

It's like having a bank, where the front door is policed by an army, but the backdoor is wide open for employees, and every window in the place is open every day.

Given the amount of theft from airport bags, and hence stolen goods _leaving_ the airport, do you think it's any harder to bring illicit stuff in?

Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#12

Post by iwwr »

maeon3 wrote: post #8

The problem with airport security in America is that they search for "Dangerous Items", not "Dangerous People". A dangerous person is allowed on an American flight if he/she doesn't have any dangerous items with him. In my opinion, a motivated group of guys could take a plane hostage with nothing but car keys, ju jitsu and some creative thinking. I'm not saying searching for the dangerous person is superior to search…

What constitutes a 'dangerous person'? There is already an extensive no-fly list in place, which incidentally is secret and gives people no avenue for appeal if they have been wrongly put on it.

Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#13

Post by iwwr »

asmithmd1 wrote: post #9

The reason the TSA is not reigned in is that only the little people are subject to search. If you fly on a private jet you and your luggage are whisked right to your plane with no inspection whatsoever.

Pilots and air crew have to go through the TSA theater as well. The only immune people are the high-profile politicians.

Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#14

Post by iwwr »

bluedanieru wrote: post #2

Better yet, it needs to be replaced with a competitive market for air travel in which the airports, the airways, and the airliners are in private hands. Some might object that private firms will have incentives to cut corners on safety. It is a legitimate concern, but competitive mechanisms tend to weed this out. Ugh, how are they going to 'weed this out' exactly? Seems to me competitive pressures would lead private…

Airlines themselves may want to take over security, since the TSA is hurting air travel. As for the TSA itself, the organization is causing preventable deaths by deterring people from flying, making them use the much more dangerous roads.

Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#15

Post by asmithmd1 »

iwwr wrote: post #13
asmithmd1 wrote: post #9

The reason the TSA is not reigned in is that only the little people are subject to search. If you fly on a private jet you and your luggage are whisked right to your plane with no inspection whatsoever.

Pilots and air crew have to go through the TSA theater as well. The only immune people are the high-profile politicians.

Not when you get on a plane at the general aviation side of an airport. There are no TSA agents, no metal detectors, and certainly no virtual strip search machines. You just give your plane's tail number as a kind of password and walk right out onto the ramp.

Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#16

Post by elmomalmo »

We suffer from the same security hysteria here in the UK, albeit somewhat less hysterical.

There was an article on HN a while back about how 'israelification' of US airports would have a positive effect on actual security and a negligible affect on passenger experience. As a layman, it made a lot of sense to me.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/744199---israelifi...

Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#17

Post by swombat »

iwwr wrote: post #12
maeon3 wrote: post #8

The problem with airport security in America is that they search for "Dangerous Items", not "Dangerous People". A dangerous person is allowed on an American flight if he/she doesn't have any dangerous items with him. In my opinion, a motivated group of guys could take a plane hostage with nothing but car keys, ju jitsu and some creative thinking. I'm not saying searching for the dangerous person is superior to search…

What constitutes a 'dangerous person'? There is already an extensive no-fly list in place, which incidentally is secret and gives people no avenue for appeal if they have been wrongly put on it.

Israeli airports use extensive profiling to identify potential suicide bombers, from car checkpoints away from the airport to airport staff instructed to look people in the eye and ask them how they're doing (people about to blow themselves up tend to act differently from normal people).

They definitely seem to focus on identifying people rather than things. Seems to work ok for them under much harsher conditions than the US has ever or, hopefully, will ever know.

Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#18

Post by Vivtek »

espeed wrote: post #5

Security theater, political theater, Broadway -- it's all theater. Chomsky and Edward Herman go over this in detail in "Manufacturing Consent" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent:_The_Poli... ). When the public starts to see it for what it is, it will lose its effect, and the playwrights will have to find a new tactic.

Which is great - except that the public will never, ever see it for what it is. Or rather, said insight on the part of the public will be treated with the same respect as any other conspiracy theory. (Oil companies colluding to raise the price of oil! Ha! That would never happen in our free-market system!)

Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#19

Post by espeed »

Vivtek wrote: post #18
espeed wrote: post #5

Security theater, political theater, Broadway -- it's all theater. Chomsky and Edward Herman go over this in detail in "Manufacturing Consent" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent:_The_Poli... ). When the public starts to see it for what it is, it will lose its effect, and the playwrights will have to find a new tactic.

Which is great - except that the public will never, ever see it for what it is. Or rather, said insight on the part of the public will be treated with the same respect as any other conspiracy theory. (Oil companies colluding to raise the price of oil! Ha! That would never happen in our free-market system!)

Evidently, but it crossed over into the theater of the absurd years ago. I would be curious to hear from those who don't see it, what is your perspective?

Re: Time to Close the Security Theater

#20

Post by smhinsey »

bruce511 wrote: post #10

The power to end the TSA lies with the public. The responsibility to end the TSA lies with the public. The public need to make enough fuss, so the media reports the fuss, so that more public become aware of the issue. The key points to identify; a) The TSA does not make flying safe. The FAA makes flying safe. The TSA allegedly keeps bombs off planes but going by their press releases they've never actually done this.…

'Who watches the watchers?' is indeed a good question with the TSA. It's not clear based on their behavior that anyone is doing much watching over there, unless you count watching out for #1.
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