freespirit
21st August 2011, 04:11 PM
If you’re flying through Boston, be prepared for another new security check...
http://travel.sympatico.ca/hot_topics/articles/boston_airport_introduces_chatdowns
Starting this week, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) will be implementing ‘chat downs’.
Umm, what?
The ‘chat down’ is an additional layer of security screening which involves a brief conversation with a specially trained agent - a Behaviour Detection Officer (BDO). Passengers are asked a series of questions to help detect suspicious behaviour based on physical cues or answers to the questions. Analysis from the test is used to determine if a passenger should go through additional screening. The goal is to identify “potentially high-risk travellers,” according to a statement issued by the TSA.
Oh, and the process was adopted from the Israeli security forces.
Nervous yet? Here’s more from the TSA:
“Security officers are screening travellers for involuntary physical and physiological reactions that people exhibit in response to a fear of being discovered.”
But don’t worry:
“We recognise an individual exhibiting some of these behaviours does not automatically mean a person has terrorist or criminal intent.”
Phew!
So what happens if you are considered suspicious?
“Individuals exhibiting specific observable behaviours may be referred for additional screening at the checkpoint to include a handwanding, limited pat down and physical inspection of one’s carry-on baggage.”
The TSA has refused to outline exactly what the BDO officers will be looking for. They did however say that looking nervous and averting eye contact are not considered to be suspicious behaviour.
Scratching your head yet? Some people at Capitol Hill sure are.
Bennie Thompson, a ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, asked the TSA to delay implementation of the new screening process.
In a letter to the TSA administration, he said the “scientifically unproven technique” lacks “scientific validation, limited or comprehensive, of the efficacy of the Assessor model of screening to detect persons who pose a security risk to aviation”.
Translation? Don’t implement it yet, because we don’t know if it works or not.
But that’s not holding back the TSA from launching the program. It begins this week and is set to run for 60-days.
What do you think?
http://travel.sympatico.ca/hot_topics/articles/boston_airport_introduces_chatdowns
Starting this week, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) will be implementing ‘chat downs’.
Umm, what?
The ‘chat down’ is an additional layer of security screening which involves a brief conversation with a specially trained agent - a Behaviour Detection Officer (BDO). Passengers are asked a series of questions to help detect suspicious behaviour based on physical cues or answers to the questions. Analysis from the test is used to determine if a passenger should go through additional screening. The goal is to identify “potentially high-risk travellers,” according to a statement issued by the TSA.
Oh, and the process was adopted from the Israeli security forces.
Nervous yet? Here’s more from the TSA:
“Security officers are screening travellers for involuntary physical and physiological reactions that people exhibit in response to a fear of being discovered.”
But don’t worry:
“We recognise an individual exhibiting some of these behaviours does not automatically mean a person has terrorist or criminal intent.”
Phew!
So what happens if you are considered suspicious?
“Individuals exhibiting specific observable behaviours may be referred for additional screening at the checkpoint to include a handwanding, limited pat down and physical inspection of one’s carry-on baggage.”
The TSA has refused to outline exactly what the BDO officers will be looking for. They did however say that looking nervous and averting eye contact are not considered to be suspicious behaviour.
Scratching your head yet? Some people at Capitol Hill sure are.
Bennie Thompson, a ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, asked the TSA to delay implementation of the new screening process.
In a letter to the TSA administration, he said the “scientifically unproven technique” lacks “scientific validation, limited or comprehensive, of the efficacy of the Assessor model of screening to detect persons who pose a security risk to aviation”.
Translation? Don’t implement it yet, because we don’t know if it works or not.
But that’s not holding back the TSA from launching the program. It begins this week and is set to run for 60-days.
What do you think?