"The more I find out, the less I know."
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Weather at the Frozen North
This is my personal blog. My professional blog is The Customer Service Survey I've written a book called Gourmet Customer Service. You can buy it on Amazon. (in)Frequently Asked Questions AIM Screen Name: DFNfrozenNorth
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Last Updated: Aug 07, 2008 03:30 PM
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Sunday - January 11, 2004 at 03:37 AM inThank goodness the TSA is on the job!
Six-year-old is placed on the CAPPS list as a potential troublemaker.
I don't know if the author's guess about how his daughter got on the list is correct, but there are a couple of scary possibilities: 1. People are being placed on the CAPPS list for extra screening by TSA agents at airports. Once on the list, there's probably no way off, leading to extra trouble every time that person tries to fly on a plane. If agents have the ability to adds names to CAPPS, this is likely to be abused, with a small minority of agents using it for petty revenge (i.e. "You were rude to me, so I'll make sure you get yours."). 2. TSA agents aren't permitted any discretion with their duties whatsoever. The best defense against terrorism isn't perfect screening and a List, the best defense is an intelligent pair of eyes allowed to perform duties to the best of his or her judgment. The question we should be asking is, if the six-year-old really had cause to be on the CAPPS list, then why weren't the parents searched, too? If the parents weren't searched, it is either because: (a) The TSA agent knew the kid wasn't a threat, but was required to do the search anyway; (b) The TSA agent didn't realize that if the kid was a threat, then logically the parents would be, too; (c) The TSA agent realized that the parents might be a threat, but wasn't allowed to do the extra search for whatever reason; or (d) The TSA agent thought the parents might be a threat, was allowed to do a search, but didn't care. None of these four possibilities is particularly comforting. Posted at 03:37 AM | Permalink | | | |