Interview with a TSA agent

This IS NOT some troll thread. I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong place/topics as well.

I have been reading quite a bit of these TSA threads on ATS, I happen to be related to a TSA agent, needless to say my feelings on both sides are very mixed. Outside of ATS I've read on certain Political/politician sites user comments suggesting that TSA agents should be "tried and fried" or "kill them" and what not. Hence my partial apprehension of agreeing with the dismantling of the TSA. My relative who works for the TSA works in a small regional airport, he had been unemployed for a very very longtime before he was able to get the job he has now. Not to mention the long interview process and rigorous testing and training he went through. Yes, he had looked for other work outside the government/TSA, but that's neither here nor there, I just thought I'd clear that up. I speak with him weekly on the political and civil anger surrounding the TSA and their "safety protocols" for lack of another phrase. He says it hard to work where your every move, which is in his opinion for the safety of all passengers and employees of the airline(s), is scrutinized. People swear at him all the time, as well as every week there is some new report of some sort of someone trying to sneak some kind of weapon or the like through the line (a insider fact I suppose the MSM doesn't want you to hear about). It's caught immediately. Thank God I pray, that he has not had to experience that at his airport.

The pay is OK, for him he's single and on his own. Mainly his beef is that he feels people actually think the TSA agents WANT to grope people's sweaty asses for their enjoyment. Also I asked him well would racial profiling make your job easier? No. Because anyone of any color with the inclination to do so will try something. But and he says this half jokingly and half serious, he wishes White people would make up their mind. First they wanted racial profiling. Then they wanted that to stop, then they wanted tighter security, now they want you to make one false move so they can come at you with their video camera get your face on the news.

I've also asked him about the body scanners, to which he's told me it's not big deal. You walk through no one sees your lady or man bits they are just looking for objects that glow (phosperus? explosives?) and weapons. He actually suggests that for travelers it's easier and faster and THEY DO delete the picture right away.
I've asked him do you believe these guys (TSA) are out of line sometimes, this is where his feelings are mixed and maybe I can get him to give me a thorough answer next time I speak with him. I suppose if I were to assume and go out on a limb it might be how a good cop would react and feel to a bad cop. Another question I've asked him which he showed some mixed feelings about also was the unionizing of the TSA he says he will most likely not join the union. Its a fear he has, especially if it's mandatory, where he may have to leave a job/career it took so long to procure.

This is where I am asking for your help, I want you to ask the questions, post them here I will read them to him and answer in his words. I talk to every Saturday, so this should give us all enough time to compile some good questions. Please be respectful also I will not give any personal information out that includes where he works, or anything that will get him canned. It's basically if you could have a CIVIL conversation with a TSA worker what would you ask them. There are, I am sure going to be some questions on his opinion which may lead to be borderline personal but I will read them to him and if chooses to answer so be it.

I'm not exactly sure where I want to go with this interview/thread, I'm hoping it will reveal its meaning to me as I go. I also suppose that that responsibility lies with you the reader.

As stated I believe I am more apprehensive about jumping on the dismantlement of the TSA simply because my thoughts go to my relative. I understand the public's outrage but not the dialogue, "kill them"...really? Perhaps if anything we can find a common ground and open a dialogue between both sides, a way for the public to air their concerns and give their opinions on how they want to be protected during air travel. Am I an ideologue, nope not in the least. Objective most of the time, but in this case diplomatic. I'm going to say that the questions should be in 4:30pm EST Saturday the 9th and I will post his answers by Sunday 12AM the latest.

Thank you all in advance
OSNM

Wish white people would make up their minds...??? About what? Wanting racial profiling? Not wanting racial profiling? Tighter security... looser security??? White people huh? Whatever...
TROLL THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soon as I read "This is not a troll thread" I should have known...

Originally posted by Soldier of God
Wish white people would make up their minds...??? About what? Wanting racial profiling? Not wanting racial profiling? Tighter security... looser security??? White people huh? Whatever...
TROLL THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess I'll ask him to clear that up huh? (Which I will) Thanks for your question

Originally posted by Soldier of God
Wish white people would make up their minds...??? About what? Wanting racial profiling? Not wanting racial profiling? Tighter security... looser security??? White people huh? Whatever...
TROLL THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soon as I read "This is not a troll thread" I should have known...

edit on 7-7-2011 by Soldier of God because: (no reason given)

Easy friend, although the OP could of used a more PC dialog, I do not think he intended it to be disrespectful.

Reply to post by oldsoulnewmind

I will bite.

How does he reconcile the 4th Amendment with some of his duties (invasive pat-downs, X-ray scanners, etc).

Keeping in mind that flying is a right, and due process needs to be followed to restrict rights.

Also, how is consent considered given, if one chooses to leave the line, he is detained, and arrested and/or fined? That is consent under duress, and is inadmissable anywhere.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by Lemon.Fresh


You are pushing the Constitution to the extreme there.

I could argue all of your points away or I could argue for them. Point is that your entire post is floating around in the gray edges of what is constitutionally allowable.

Reply to post by kro32

What extreme?

The 4th is pretty cut and dry.


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reply to post by Lemon.Fresh


I agree but it depends what your applying it too that can get confusing. It could be argued that pat downs and x-rays are not invasive or if they are you are, by choice, submitting to it by choosing to fly.

The fourth amendment has successfully been argued not to apply to voluntary situations. It was written to prevent unwanted violations but if you choose to go where these things occur then you can not bring up the fourth amendment defense.

Not saying your wrong or right but only that it's a very weak case in regards to this issue.

Reply to post by kro32

I see what you are saying, but I Constitunionally do not agree.




Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Your relative is a criminal. He's making money by doing the dirty work of the people that want to destroy freedom. I turned down a 6-figure salary working with the military because I have ethics. I will not be an accessory to murder or to the destruction of American freedom. Your family member has subjugated ethics to the almighty dollar.

My advice is to show him video of building 7 and of the molten metal pouring out of the twin towers. (If you don't already know why this is the smoking gun proving 9/11 was a fraud, then you watch it too.) Then watch the interview with Aaron Russo:



The best way to wake people up to why this all this insane destruction of freedom is wrong is to show them that 9/11 was a lie. 9/11 is being used as the excuse for all of this. "Our protection" Once you remove that lie, everything is turned on its head.

Originally posted by Lemon.Fresh
Reply to post by kro32

 

I see what you are saying, but I Constitunionally do not agree.

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

Fair enough

second

Thanks Lemon.Fresh for the question I will surely ask him.

I was hoping more people would ask on this thread as this is late Thursday evening and I am hoping to have his answers posted by Sunday 12 a.m.

Observer99 was there a question you had? I will discuss with him building 7 and/or this video (though I have not watched it yet, myself) but did you have a question or did you just want to call my relative a criminal and question his integrity? I will say one thing ethics are subjective, every man makes his own.

reply to post by Observer99


You call this member's relative a criminal and then say he should have chosen to remain unemployed than work just because his job is in the TSA? Then, to top it all, you try to force this Truther BS to back up your opinion?

Are you insane?

If you were hungry, unemployed, taking state benefits which run out after a certain time period and wanting to live on more money than you currently have then why refuse a ready and available job just because some reports of TSA actions are over-exaggerated or purposely created by alleged "victims" just to have someone to blame?

(And pay attention, I used the words "some reports", not all)

OP, I have no questions to ask and can't think of any off the top of my head but thanks for trying to relay the other side of this argument. Unfortunately, there seems to be a certain bias amongst members on ATS where all government action is bad/evil, Israel must be destroyed by terrorists for daring to finally have their own land and nation and every member of the TSA, police force and military should be hung or shot for doing their job.

Security is a myth. In my opinion this is just to acclimate people to a police state in which everyone must be viewed as a suspect "for safety purposes". No one "above suspicion" as it were.
And what really deserves the most attention is the obvious fact that 911 was not carried out by some amatuer hijackers with box-cutters, it was designed and executed with help from the highest levels of our own government and military.
So the real security we need isn't in the airports, it is actually from the the corruption within our own government.
Lets get agents to follow around every politician, the senate, pentagon, whitehouse, congress etc. etc every dealing, every phone call - where they go, who they see. I know I would feel a lot safer with that kind of security protecting me not this "take off your shoes so we can look" bs.

As for a question - ask what he thinks is the impact to airline travel from all these security measures. I know I will not fly unless I absolutely must and many of my friends and family feel the same way simply because it is demeaning.

reply to post by oldsoulnewmind


oldsoulnewmind,

Thanks for the thread,

I have a few questions for your friend. Please ask him what he has been trained on these

1. Do travelers boarding a plane require to show any form of a government ID to pass through a TSA checkpoint.

2. Is a person allowed the video tape/record the local area around the TSA checkpoint including the agents themselves.

3. What is the procedures if a person identifies themselves as a local/state police and is carrying a weapon for travel.
and why the average citizen is not allowed to carry their 2nd amendment right weapon if they have a CWP and wants to transport it.

4. What law allows them to detain anyone? Please explain to your friend if he doesn't understand that since TSA don't have any police powers that even the Reasonable Suspicion clause allowed to police isn't applicable to them and that they should know that they, the individual agents, can be sued for civil rights abuse as a defacto government agent.

Thanks for your time.
I look forward to your friends responses.

Sirric

Dont forget, the answers youre going to receive are going to be from 1 individual, with their own personality and personal opinions regarding an issue that blankets ALL individuals, the collective populaces liberties and rights have already been addressed in the bill of rights and constitution that already exist and are NOT being respected and adhered to. The gung-ho tsa agent and the ho-hum tsa agent do not provide a standard, they simply reflect the variable within the system that cannot be measured consistantly nor applied consistantly.
I've encountered 100's of tsa agents and I've dealt with some real pricks from both sexes and all colors, and I've also had the "wave throughs I dont care" tsa agents as well.
Being 'unemployed' for a long time like your family/friend member can sure bring buckets of stress into a persons life, but when all that's offered as employment in the end, is to work for a system that creeps closer and closer to human farming and human control, when that is all that's offered us in the end, is that really a reason to accept panic/fear/enslavement/control into our lives that are already short and precious to begin with?


screw the tsa and the horse they rode in on.

reply to post by sirric


This may help to answer one of your questions..
www.tsa.gov...

Therian

Hello there. Nice idea for a thread.

First I want to add that I personally agree with the people on here that are stating that 9/11 was a false flag attack and that the new security measures are more about subjigation of Americans than to prevent the imaginary threat of terrorism.

Problem-reaction-solution. Just like the long history of other false flags to change public opinion, such as the attacks on Pearl Harbor, U.S.S. Liberty, U.S.S. Cole, the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, Operation Fast and Furious and of course Operation Northwoods. Some may be only theory, some are fact. I may have missed a few examples as well.

So now on to my questions:

1, Does he have any feelings about false flags and the idea that the government uses problem-reaction-solution to oppress people's freedoms?

2. What are his thoughts on the TSA's F.A.S.T. teams and the placement of TSA agents at checkpoints, train stations, bus stations, malls, sporting events, and possibly other locations?

3. Objectively, don't these measures along with other moves outside of the TSA, seem like they are less about safety and more about subjigation?

ETA:
4. If it wasn't already asked, can a person change their mind while at the security checkpoint and freely leave without legal recourse?

Thanks for your time.

I have a few questions:

Does your friend sleep well at night knowing that he is one of a group that is fully despised at every level, and then some?

After he gropes a young girl, how does he feel doing it? (I am not implying that he is a pedophile at all. Not asking from that aspect.)

Here is a better question:

If he had to screen/pat-down his mother or daughter (because they are flying and he happns to be the TSA guy at the airport that does the pat downs, but did not expect them to be his next victim) how would he feel about that?

Does he feel he is going our country a service or a disservice?

-E2

Do they have frequency transmitters - aka "mind control fields"?

Whenever I go to an airport I can sense that there is something, its like a kind of "fine line" and it seems to isolate any form of tension, as well as the "spotters" that seem to be trained to observe anyone that appears aggitated by the fields.