Inappropriate Note Author Identified and Removed From Screening

*** Update 10/27/11: After working with our Office of Chief Counsel and Privacy Office, we have been cleared to say the following: TSA has completed its investigation of this matter, and has initiated action to remove the individual from federal service.  Like all federal employees, this Transportation Security Officer is entitled to due process and the protections embodied in the Privacy Act.   Pending the completion of the removal action, the employee will not perform any screening duties. ***

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Earlier this week, a passenger found a highly inappropriate note scrawled on a "Notice of Inspection" that TSA places in checked bags if they are required to be searched. She tweeted a photo of what she found and we soon learned of the incident.

TSA quickly launched an investigation and identified the employee responsible. That individual was immediately removed from screening operations and appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated.

The handwritten note was highly inappropriate and unprofessional, and TSA has zero tolerance for this type of behavior.

Agency officials have also reached out to the passenger to personally apologize for this unfortunate incident.

Blogger Bob  

TSA Blog Team  

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

Myth Buster: TSA Not Setting Up Checkpoints On Tennessee Highways

Depending on what inaccurate blog post you may have read, you would think that TSA has checkpoints set up all across Tennessee’s highways.  That’s just simply not the case. In fact, it’s really startling to see how off base some of the claims have been.

As part of an ongoing terrorism prevention and response program, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security hosted a statewide exercise on October 18-20, 2011.  TSA participated through its Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response program. The exercise focused on improving the communications and operating relationships of state, local, and federal agencies when responding to any type of homeland security situation.

TSA VIPR personnel participated at multiple locations in the Tennessee exercise, supporting state and local personnel as they inspected vehicles to identify potential security threats.

In addition, Transportation Security Officers were in attendance to provide information including a leaflet to truck drivers at weigh stations about TSA’s First Observer program that encourages drivers to report potentially suspicious activity or items they see on the road.

TSA officers did not physically screen drivers during this exercise as erroneously reported.  The actual vehicle inspections were conducted by the Tennessee State Highway Patrol just the same as they are done every day.

Blogger Bob

TSA Blog Team 

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

 

TSA Week In Review: Loaded Guns & Landmines

Landmines Found at SLC

Yes, you read the title correctly. Landmines… TSA officers found in checked baggage at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) after our Explosive Detection System alarmed. SLC Explosive Ordnance Disposal arrived on the scene and determined the mines were inert. After all was said and done, all checked bags from that area had to be rerouted to other baggage systems and four flights were delayed 19 minutes.

Unloaded firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, stun guns, brass knuckles, assorted knives of all sizes and types, a collapsible baton, fraudulent IDs, nunchucks, and yet another darn replica grenade were among items found around the nation by our officers in passenger’s carry-on bags this past week.

King Midas in Reverse traveled through Newport News Williamsburg International Airport this past Thursday with a brick of gold that had ‘$10,000,000.00’ stamped on it. The police responded and while the gold was fake, the warrant against the individual was 100% authentic. The real fugitive, and his fake gold, were taken into custody by law enforcement.

This past Wednesday, a Transportation Security Officer's search of a suspicious bag at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport's C-Pier checkpoint yielded five credit cards and an additional driver's license... all belonging to different people, none of which belonged to the passenger. TSA contacted the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, who took the individual into custody.

In another incident, a passenger at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was placed under arrest after he got a little tipsy and was heard saying he was going to bring a bomb onboard the aircraft.

It’s no secret that we find drugs and concealed cash nearly every day. We find them both during baggage checks and also during screening with advanced imaging technology (aka body scanners). We’re not looking for drugs and cash, but they show up as anomalies in the same exact places where explosives could be hidden. That’s why these finds are significant. It shows that our technology and procedures work.  Just this week at Westchester County Airport (HPN), a large mass was detected in a carry-on bag. After a bag search, a false bottom was located in the bag where over $50,000.00 of cash was bundled. Each bundle was wrapped in cellophane and a cloth that had been soaked in an unknown fragrant substance. The passenger’s ID was fraudulent and they were arrested by the Westchester County Police on state charges.

The TSA Week In Review appeared in a New York Times Editorial titled: Check-In at Dodge City. Also, a reader of the York Daily Record wrote a letter to the editor stating that they believe that “overall, the negative reviews of TSA are unwarranted.” Thanks for the kind words!

Dr. Emma Garrison-Alexander, TSA’s Chief Information Officer and Assistant Administrator for Information Technology, was recognized earlier this week with the United States Government Information Security Leadership Award (GISLA), presented by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc., (ISC)². Great job!

Our officers found 22 loaded firearms since I posted last Friday in carry-on baggage. And 1 one on a passenger! (Not counting the unloaded and replica firearms we found). Here is a rundown of the loaded weapons we kept off of airplanes this week:

• 10-14: TSA Officer at SAT detects a loaded .22 pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-15: TSA Officer at CLL detects a loaded .45 pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-15: TSA Officer at MCI detects a loaded .9mm pistol.
• 10-15: TSA Officer at ATL detects a loaded .380 pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-16: TSA Officer at CLT detects a loaded .38 pistol.
• 10-16: TSA Officer at OKC detects a loaded  9mm pistol.
•  10-16: TSA Officer at PHX detects a loaded .380 pistol with a round in the chamber. 
• 10-17: TSA Officer at BNA detects a loaded .45 pistol. 
• 10-17: TSA Officer at BUR detects a loaded .38 pistol. 
• 10-17: TSA Officer at MCO detects a loaded 9mm pistol with a round in the chamber. 
• 10-18: TSA Officer at BNA detects a loaded .380 pistol. 
• 10-19: TSA Officer at LAW detects a loaded .357 pistol with a round in the chamber. 
• 10-19: TSA Officer at PHX detects a loaded .380 pistol with a round in the chamber. 
• 10-19: TSA Officer at PHX detects a loaded .38 pistol with a round in the chamber. 
• 10-19: TSA Officer at FMN detects a loaded 9mm pistol.
• 10-19: TSA Officer at LIT detects a loaded .380 pistol. 
• 10-19: TSA Officer at SAV detects a loaded .380 pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-20: TSA Officer at IAD detects a loaded .380 pistol with a round in the chamber. 
• 10-20: TSA Officer at TUL detects a loaded .38 pistol. 
• 10-20: TSA Officer at LIT detects a loaded .38 pistol.
• 10-20: TSA Officer at ATL detects a loaded 9mm pistol. 
• 10-20: TSA Officer at MEM detects a loaded .38 pistol with a round in the chamber. 
• 10-20: One passenger at DFW took it to the extreme. In the passenger’s back pack, a duffle bag and a sleeping bag, a TSO found two unloaded pistols, (.380 & 9mm) 8 knives of varying blade lengths with seven inches being the longest blade, a saw, and three ammo magazines.   
• 10-20: After alarming the walk through the metal detector at HSV, a passenger immediately remembered he had a loaded .22 Derringer in his pocket.  

Multiple Items Found At DFW From One Passenger

You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms.

Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items in their bag. That’s why it’s important to check your bags before you leave.

We also look for explosives and bomb components as well, but thankfully those are extremely rare and we're happy to keep it that way.

Blogger Bob

TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

How To Sign Up To Participate in TSA Pre✓™

We’ve been getting a lot of interest and rave reviews since rolling out TSA Pre✓™ earlier this month and travelers have been asking  how they can sign up.

The good news is that you may already be eligible and just not know it. This summer, after partnering with American and Delta airlines, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to identify a limited group of potential participants to test the expedited screening concept, each airline and CBP sent communications out to the participant pool telling them how to opt into the TSA Pre✓™ pilot. If you are a United States citizen and an existing member of one of CBP's Trusted Traveler programs, such as Global Entry, SENTRI or NEXUS or one of the more frequent flyers with Delta and American you more than likely received one of those communications.  This might be a good time to search your inbox to find it!

There’s more good news:  if you didn’t get the initial communication or accidentally tossed it,  there is still a way to participate in TSA Pre✓™. Read on…

If you are a United States citizen and are currently a member of CBP’s eligible Trusted Traveler programs (Global Entry, SENTRI, NEXUS), you are automatically qualified to participate in the TSA Pre✓™ pilot as long as you are flying on a participating airline at a participating airport.  (If you’re a more frequent flyer with Delta or American, you must opt in to the program by responding to the communication sent to you, which is why it’s important to find that email and follow the directions in it.) 

The most important thing to know about TSA Pre✓™ during the pilot phase is:

• Participants flying on Delta Air Lines must be flying out of either Atlanta (ATL) or Detroit (DTW)

• Participants flying on American Airlines must be flying out of Miami (MIA) or Dallas/Fort Worth   (DFW)

This applies for both the participating airline frequent flyers and the CBP Trusted Traveler participants.

Booking Reservations

So now you’re ready to book your flight, and you want to participate – what do you do?  Current members of CBP’s Global Entry, SENTRI or NEXUS programs just need to place their PASS ID in the ‘Known Traveler Number’ field when booking their reservation. 

Click For Larger Image

Frequent flyers who have already opted in through their airline don’t need to do anything more – the airlines will send confirmation of their participation when they send us the passenger’s Secure Flight data.

At The Airport

American Airlines’ participants  must  use check-in kiosks at the airport to print their boarding pass.  Delta Airlines participants do not. 

The next important step is to go to the specific checkpoint that has been specially configured for TSA Pre✓™ at each airport. At these checkpoints, an officer will scan your boarding passes to verify that you are eligible, and if you are, direct you to the expedited screening lane.  If you go to the wrong checkpoint, you’ll miss the opportunity for expedited screening.  So if you’re eligible and flying anytime soon, I’d keep the information below with my boarding pass:

TSA Pre✓™ Checkpoints:

• Atlanta: T-South Checkpoint (Delta only)
• Dallas: Terminal C, Checkpoint C30 (American only)
• Detroit: Checkpoint 2 on the ticketing level (Delta only)
• Miami: D2 Checkpoint (American only)

The last key point I wanted to pass on is that  opting into the pilot will not guarantee expedited security screening for every flight. We have built random and unpredictable factors throughout the aviation security system to guard against terrorists gaming the system and this program is no exception.
 

I’m not done passing on good news. If you’re a United States citizen and not currently a member of one of CBP’s Trusted Traveler programs, you can join one now and be eligible for TSA Pre✓™ after you’re enrolled.  Here are the basic steps for applying:

Go to the Global Online Enrollment System (GOES) page and register for a CBP Global Online Enrollment System (GOES) account. Once registered in GOES, you can move forward with your enrollment in one of the CBP eligible programs. If you’re having trouble, you can go here for a presentation on how to locate a PASS ID (or Membership Number) in the GOES account.

And if you’ve gotten this far in the post and are still wondering what the heck TSA Pre✓™ is, you can take a look at this blog post from our Administrator, John S. Pistole or check out the info at TSA.gov. 

Blogger Bob

TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

Week in Review: Lipstick Knife & Lost and Found - And a few other tidbits...

Stock Photo of Lipstick Knife

It was business as usual at the checkpoints again this past week.

A passenger at MCO gave us a good example of something you should never say during screening: "You better check me close. I am about to blow." After finishing screening, the passenger's airline denied them boarding and removed their bag from the plane. The passenger was permitted to rebook with a different airline.

In addition to all of the loaded guns we found, (listed below) we also found a lot of other prohibited items around the nation to include gun parts, ammunition, stun guns, mace, throwing stars, throwing knives, switchblades, butterfly knives, kitchen knives etc. In one instance at MDW, one of our officers found a lipstick knife. Paging 007... AT RSW, a passenger went as far as to conceal two knives in the handles of their carry-on bag. In yet another instance at SFO, a knife was found detected under the sole of a passenger's shoe. One could say they were walking on a knife's edge.

Our officers found a couple of other notable things this past week, but they weren't prohibited. A passenger at EWR was relieved after answering a page on the public address system. He had left his wrist watch and a wallet containing $405.00 in cash at the checkpoint. An alert team of TSA officers had found his belongings and worked with the airport to page him so that he could come back to retrieve his belongings. Another passenger who had just traveled through ROC was taxiing to the runway when she noticed that her two-carat diamond had fallen out of her ring. After a series of phone calls, officers at ROC located the diamond on the floor at the checkpoint and it was eventually returned to a very happy passenger.

Our officers found 21 loaded firearms since I posted last Friday. (Not counting the unloaded and replica firearms we found). Here is a rundown:

• 10-7: TSA Officer at IAH detects a loaded 9mm pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-7: TSA Officer at LBB detects a loaded .380 pistol.
• 10-7: TSA Officer at SAT detects a loaded .380 pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-8 TSA Officer at MOB detects a loaded .32 pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-8 TSA Officer at AUS detects a loaded .380 pistol.
• 10-8 TSA Officer at SEA detects a loaded .357 pistol. (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
• 10-9: TSA Officer at PHF detects a loaded .22 pistol.
• 10-9: TSA Officer at STL detects a loaded .22 pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-9: TSA Officer at MSY detects a loaded 9mm pistol.
• 10-10: TSA Officer at MCO detects a loaded .380 pistol.
• 10-10: TSA Officer at SLC detects a loaded 9mm pistol with a round in the chamber. (ABC4)
• 10-10: TSA Officer at SAT detects a loaded 9mm pistol.
• 10-11: TSA Officer at DEN detects a loaded .22 with a round in the chamber.
• 10-12: TSA Officer at GSO detects a loaded 9mm pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-12: TSA Officer at MSY detects a loaded .22 pistol.
• 10-12: TSA Officer at HOU detects a loaded .380 pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-12: TSA Officer at GRR detects a loaded .22 pistol.
• 10-13: TSA Officer at ANC detects a loaded .380 pistol.
• 10-13: TSA Officer at IND detects a loaded 9mm pistol.
• 10-13: TSA Officer at PHX detects a loaded .357 pistol.
• 10-13: TSA Officer at SAT detects a loaded 9mm pistol with a round in the chamber.
• 10-13: TSA Officer at MIA detects a loaded firearm of unknown caliber.

Unless you're a law enforcement officer or Federal Flight Deck Officer who is able to fly with a firearm in the cabin of the aircraft, your firearm (s) must be declared to the airline and checked in your luggage. You can go here for more details.

Just because we find a firearm on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. And just so you know, we also look for explosives and bomb components as well, but thankfully those are extremely rare and we're happy to keep it that way.

Blogger Bob
TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.