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Monday, February 21, 2011

The TSA hard at work.

For the taxpaying public, especially the travelling public, this should be good news.

An undercover TSA agent was able to get through security at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport with a handgun during testing of the enhanced-imaging body scanners, according to a high-ranking, inside source at the Transportation Security Administration.



The source said the undercover agent carried a pistol in her undergarments when she put the body scanners to the test. The officer successfully made it through the airport's body scanners every time she tried, the source said...

The TSA insider who blew the whistle on the test also said that none of the TSA agents who failed to spot the gun on the scanned image were disciplined. The source said the agents continue to work the body scanners today...


OK...they get paid (at least that is what stated on their web site) to, among other things, "...protect the traveling public by preventing any deadly or dangerous objects from being transported onto an aircraft. Assists in conducting screening of passengers, baggage and cargo. May be required to conduct screening at any airport that provides commercial services to the public. Assists in monitoring the flow of passengers through the screening checkpoint to facilitate the orderly and efficient processing of passengers...Ability to learn to operate basic security equipment such as X-ray machines and hand wands at screening checkpoints..." So I guess missing a pistol in underwear don't count as a deadly or dangerous objects.

But we know these people will be disciplined or at least required to go through retaining...I mean they ain't unionized right...oh they are:

Well at least the big boys at TSA are on top of it...

...The TSA did not deny that the tests took place or the what the results were. The agency would only provide the following statement:

"Our security officers are one of the most heavily tested federal workforces in the nation. We regularly test our officers in a variety of ways to ensure the effectiveness of our technology, security measures and the overall layered system. For security reasons, we do not publicize or comment on the results of covert tests, however advanced imaging technology is an effective tool to detect both metallic and nonmetallic items hidden on passengers."

TSA agents who spoke to a reporter agreed that the body-imaging scanners are effective -- but only if the officers monitoring them are paying attention.


Glad to know some people at TSA have their heads out of their asses. But I doubt they will become future leadership. Unionized federal bureaucracies generally don't let the best rise to the top. And we're showing why many people were very leery about federalizing the security at airports. After billions put into the TSA it has caught not one terrorist, harassed the flying taxpaying public on a continual basis and established itself as a needed bureaucracy. And we all know any bureaucracy has only purpose: To exist. Well, at least we're getting security for the loss of our liberty...

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