I fly a decent amount…I’m no road warrior, but I fly about once a month, maybe more. I used to fly all the time (several times per month) but my job doesn’t require as much travel anymore. Over the past few months, I’ve found the TSA to be even more surly and aggressive than normal which is definitely not a good thing going into summer travel season. Below is the letter that I sent to my U.S Senator.
On Thursday, May 26, 2016 at about 6:45am, my family and I were traveling through Newark airport (Terminal C) on our way to Los Angeles. We had checked most of our luggage curbside and were only holding carry on bags at this point. After making it through the initial line and checkpoint we were directed to a line to go through the scanning equipment. There was a TSA employee who was telling everyone that they didn’t need to take off their shoes or take out their laptop computers. This was confusing to me because I’ve never experienced this before. However, I then saw that the people in our line were in fact taking off their shoes and taking out laptops. This was even more confusing so I asked a TSA employee and they said that my line had to remove their shoes and laptops. This process is odd when you have multiple TSA employees shouting different instructions that contradict each other and the posted signs.
My family and I went through the scanners as did our bags and belongings. At this point a TSA employee held up my 14 year old daughters backpack and asked whose it was…I replied that it’s my daughters. The employee asked to look in the bag and I said “of course.” The employee searched the bag and then told me they were going to send it back through the scanner which they did. When the bag came back I asked if everything was okay and they said yes. At this point a TSA employee told me they were going to have to pat down my 14 year old daughter. I asked why since she had already gone through the body scanner and her bag had been searched and scanned twice. The employee told me it was “standard operating procedure”. I asked for a supervisor who came over (her name is Rose Robert). The supervisor reiterated that it was standard operating procedure. At this point my wife became upset and started to cry. I told my wife that if we didn’t submit to this “pat down” we wouldn’t be allowed to fly and go on vacation. Ms. Robert offered to do the pat down in a private area. I declined saying that there was no way that anything was going to happen out of my sight. It wasn’t made clear to me whether or not I would be able to be present if this was moved to a private area. Ms. Robert did the pat down herself. She felt all along my daughters legs, arms, torso, buttocks, vagina, and breasts. During the pat down began my daughter began to cry. At this point my wife and daughter are in tears and there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it. After the pat down was complete we gathered our thing and walked away. My wife and daughter were still crying. I told them to wait where we were and I walked back and told Ms. Roberts that I thought what happened was gross and unnecessary and that my entire family was horrified. She replied with it’s standard operating procedure and she doesn’t like it either. When I asked why do it then, she said it’s standard operating procedure and she doesn’t make the rules. It was at that point that I realized that nothing that I said or did would make a difference. What an awful way to begin a vacation.
There are a few points that I would like to get across: First, I find it outrageous and offensive that anyone could call an adult touching a child “standard operating procedure”. Second, my daughter had been through a full body scanner, had her bag scanned twice, and physically searched. At this point was a pat down really necessary or was it excessive? Third, if this “pat down” occurred outside of the airport it would be considered a serious crime. Fourth, I really have to wonder what will be going through my daughter’s mind the next time she has to deal with TSA…I already know what’s going to be going through my mind and that’s a feeling of dread. Lastly, if this is standard operating procedure then it isn’t an isolated incident.
Sorry your family found this distressing. But a pat down is far from uncommon. Certainly in the UK the scanning machines actually automatically pick out a certain number for a physical pat down. There is always the option to have it in private and I’m sure minors could be accompanied by a guardian.
It is nothing less than outrageous. Especially since the entire TSA routine in the United States is essentially “security theatre.” Unfortunately, as long as the American public allows this pretending to go on, your daughter’s experience will be repeated at the expense of countless other individuals.
I’m more focusing on the unnecessary part of the pat down. She had been through a full body scanner that basically shows her naked. She had her bag searched once and scanned twice. She had been sniffed by an TSA dog. We had supplied our boarding passes and identification several times already.
At this point was it necessary for a 14 year old girl to submit to a pat down from an adult? How much security is necessary?
I guess one should prepare ones family that a pat down is possible every time travelling through the airport. Though I have three boys so my dynamic is different.
I understand your point. However, I take a slightly different viewpoint. Maybe its a girl/boy thing, but I don’t that it should make a difference. I prepare my family to deal with the minor inconvenience of TSA security with as much courtesy as possible. However, I also prepare them to speak up for themselves and in this case it was appropriate for me to speak on her behalf and what I saw was an unnecessary procedure that was performed by a person who lacked empathy.
I’ve done a ton of research about this and it seems like it’s a losing battle from a legal standpoint. Definitely would win the moral argument, but the government has very broad powers in this area.
I wasn’t there Mike so I am missing lots of details about how this felt to your family. That said, I don’t understand why this interaction created so much emotion with your family. I’m not trying to criticize or sound uncaring, but is it possible that your reaction caused more stress for your daughter than the prospect of the pat down?
And again, I wasn’t there. I didn’t get to feel the vibe. I didn’t get to witness the appropriateness of the pat down. I’m just missing how this could create so much angst in a post 9/11 world.
TSA might be Kabuki in part, and I agree that a reasonable procedure is to allow a parent to supervise a private pat down of a minor. All that may be true, but it’s not what we are talking about here.
Vagina and breasts? I’ve been patted down quite a bit, as I opt out of scanners. The standard procedure is to pat the inner upper thighs, but at no time have has my crotch ever been touched. And with the breasts, they use the outside edge of their hand and feel in between the breasts and under the breasts, but not really touching the actual breasts.
I understand your point and I’m sure that my wife’s reaction didn’t help (we discussed it privately afterward). However, even if my family went through this whole thing with a smile on our faces would it make it right? Remember, she had been through multiple levels of security already. Was a pat down necessary? What exactly would the pat down turn up that the body scanner didn’t? Why draw the line at a pat down? Why not a strip search? Body cavity search? I’ll tell you why the strip search and body cavity search weren’t performed…because they were unnecessary just like the pat down. Until people speak up and say that this type of procedure isn’t okay nothing will change.
My experience with the TSA shows an alarming lack of empathy which IMHO should be a cause for concern.
Yes. Vagina and breasts. Yes, back of the hand in those areas.
As an aside, on our way back to Newark, my bag attracted the TSA’s interest in LAX and I was subject to a pat down. Do you recall how Joey Tribiani’s tailor measured pants (Friends reference)? That was my experience.
Just curious, and I don’t mean to be anything other than curious. How does one feel in between and under a woman’s breasts without touching them?
In the center of the rib cage with the side of the hand and then the side of the hand under the breasts, basically along the base of the bra. It’s not like anyone is cupping them or anything and it’s all very fast.
I think your state senator is unlikely to be of any help. Try your US senator, your congressman, Secretary Foxx, and TSA Admin Neffenger. Still unlikely that they will do much, but at least they would be in the right jurisdiction
Mike, doesn’t sound fun, but then almost no TSA security line is “fun”. As a very frequent traveler, who has also traveled a bit with family, I can only suggest that the thing to do is teach your family that this is just the price of travel. I wasn’t there, so maybe this incident was somehow different than I’ve seen happen countless times. But getting upset is just counterproductive, you will not make it any easier or less painful. I have to say that it seems unlikely to me that a trained female TSA agent, having been called over for a pat down, was any threat to your daughter. I think you set the expectations incorrectly, and created a scene which was more traumatic than it needed to be. Sorry if I am seeing this differently, or if the situation was somehow worse than I am picturing.
The TSA has decided that “profiling” is not the way to go. I happen to think that’s a bit silly (as do the Israeli’s who have the most experience in this area). So, with that as the setup, your 14 year old daughter may be treated the same as a 45 year old man since conceivably either could be up to no good.
I agree with this. I’m not sure why your wife started crying, but most kids will cry if they see their mother crying. It’s like with vaccinations…if the parent makes a big deal out of it, the kid freaks out. If you are calm and explain exactly what will happen, kids will usually take them without a big issue. But again, we weren’t there, so we don’t know exactly how everything went down.
I completely understand your point and you’re correct that getting upset didn’t help. That said, I have a few points:
First, my anger at this point is not with the actual pat down itself (which I thought was aggressive for a 14 year old girl, but my opinion doesn’t matter here). My anger is with the necessity of the pat down. As I’ve said before, she had already been through a body scanner that renders a picture of her practically naked. Her bag had been through the machine twice and physically searched once. Her bag was okayed by the TSA agent who searched it and put it through the scanner the second time. She had been sniffed by a TSA dog. We had shown ID’s and boarding passes to at least two different TSA agents. What possible problem could the pat down reveal that hadn’t been revealed already. Where do we draw the line?
Second, I think there is a fundamental disconnect that a child getting patted down by an adult should be accepted as the price of travel. You are correct. Currently it is the price of travel. My point is that the fact that it’s currently the price of travel doesn’t make it right. I would actually make the point that it’s terribly sad that most people accept this as SOP. Rules and laws change all the time when enough people speak up. Nothing will change if people just accept this behavior as the price of travel.
Third, as I said above, the pat down may have been the standard pat down from TSA, but I would say that outside the airport it’s criminal behavior. I completely understand the security issues that present themselves at the airport, but I take the subway in NYC almost everyday. I take NJ Transit trains all the time. I work in a building that also houses the NY Attorney General. I’ve been in numerous government buildings, the NY stock exchange, on all the major bank trading desks, etc., etc. Point is that I’ve never been subject to the same type of security check as what happens at the airport.
I do appreciate your POV…I wouldn’t call it an opposing POV, just a different one. I’m not sure how far this complaint is going to go and it’s helpful to hear other POV’s before I get them from the TSA or the general public.
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You deserved an answer other then SOP. I’d like to know if you get a response.