TSA Contraband Inspections

                Several weeks ago I wrote about the Department of Public Safety at the University of Southern California in regards to their inefficient use of time barking orders at students and faculty, TSA seems to be cut from the same cloth. However, while The Hapless Blogger wasn’t able to get past the use of “Gestapo,” perhaps the use of another agency with a less offensive title will be more sensitive towards his tastes.

             One of the first memories that comes to mind when I think of the TSA was when I was going through LAX security at the age of 12. I removed my jacket and shoes, and placed my bag into the dark box-like cave on the conveyor belt. As I passed through the metal detector, my jacket had caught one TSA agent's attention, and he was on it like a bad rash. As I walked over to oversee his concern, he began to jiggle his hand down each pocket. Eventually to my surprise, he pulled out my beloved Swiss Army pocketknife. He examined the device, and informed me it would have to be confiscated. As he dropped it into a large blue bucket, I walked away devastated.

            Today, non-locking pocket knives with 1-3” blades are allowed to be taken on airplanes. However, I do not see knifes or bludgeoning devices as huge risks to air plane travel. Overall their search and confiscation is a waste of time towards addressing safety. If you look back to why many of the hijackers succeeded on 9/11, it was because they were able to break into the cockpit. Since 9/11, cockpit doors have been substantially fortified and are locked throughout the flight. Unfortunately, the US government felt that more had to be done to ease American concerns, and that seizing threatening devices and conducting full body searches would really ramp up the safety of American flights.

            Unfortunately, TSA agents are not addressing the problem. If someone wants to cut or stab someone, they will most likely be able to smuggle the device through TSA which has been proven with multiple failed tests or makeshift other devices like broken off steel luggage handles or electronics to do the same. That being said, knifes or spear-like devices will most likely not open current cockpit doors or damage the aircraft. In that sense, a person with a sharp object would have to partake in hand-to-hand combat with 300 passengers to kill everyone on board, unlikely to say the least.

            The TSA needs to clarify its purpose. If it exists to prevent plane high jacking or massive losses of life, it should solely focus on incendiary devices.  The detonation of an explosive device is the only threat to breaking the cockpit doors or compromising the integrity of the airplane. That being said, random body searches or questioning has proven ineffective in catching the "terrorist" which will be one out of a million. A TSA focusing on bomb detection can narrow down never ending list of prohibited items of what agents are looking for and leave room for bomb-detection devices and practices in their budgets.