June 27th Update to ID Requirements:
Now that the new ID requirement is almost one week old, we wanted to provide additional stats. Below are the latest numbers:
Saturday, June 21-Wednesday, June 25:
Total flyers: Approximately 10 million
Flyers without ID: 1705 (.000017 of total flyers)
Flyers denied access: 59 (.000005 of total passengers)
Average wait time for identity verification or decision: 6.9 minutes
And an editorial comment:
A few bloggers have asked us where we are and why we have not responded to questions. Questions like:
“Do these questions being to make you realize why TSA is a joke?”
“Of what are you so afraid that you refuse to address this issue?”
“Unless you are just going to turn the blog iinto (sic) a carnival or circus?”
That last one brings us to an interesting point. As Kip wrote in the opening post of this blog on January 30th, “Our ambition is to provide here a forum for a lively, open discussion of TSA issues… Our hosts…job is to engage with you straight-up and take it from there.”
I think we can all agree that comments like:
“I am just waiting for Kip to mutter "I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddling kids."
“My tinfoil hat theory is that the TSA knows it doesn't and have given up any pretense of spin control.”
“I agree -- more TSA crap. The sooner y'all are simply arrested for violating our rights, the happier I'll be.”
don’t really bring anything to the larger debate and really don’t beg for nor want a response.
The simple truth is that we’re just about the only government agency engaging in this type of dialogue on security issues and policies and we’re sincerely interested in rational debate and conversation...but we have neither the time nor the desire to respond to random, vitriol filled diatribes that don’t serve passengers or other bloggers in any way.
We’ve used this blog as a method of change and hope we have proven its merit on several occasions (ending the electronics problem in Hooray Bloggers, Diamond Lanes, etc.). These posts and the bloggers' comments have had a positive impact on your experience and mine at the checkpoint. We’re more than willing to engage in a vigorous debate on controversial issues and look forward to many more spirited debates without the poison for poison’s sake.
We’ve certainly proven over the past seven months that we can take a punch but the constant barrage of body (and low) blows without substance would tire even Mike Tyson in his heyday.
Christopher
EOS Blog Team
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
New ID Requirements: The First 48
UPDATE: We're aware of reports that someone was asked their political affiliation to verify their identity and it is being looked into. Here's a response given to us by Kip Hawley: "It's unequivocally not our policy to use political, religious, or other sensitive personal topics as identity validation. If it happened, it was wrong and will not be repeated."
We're 48 hours into the new procedure and things have been smooth so far. Approximately 650 people have shown up to security checkpoints without ID and a total of 20 people have not been allowed to fly. That is .0005 percent of the approximately four million people that flew this weekend.
Of the 650 people that showed up without ID, it's taking us an average of 10 minutes to verify their identity and get them on their way. We're able to do this so quickly because of the close coordination of our officers at airports and our 24/7 ops center.
Our critics say this has nothing to do with security and it only affects people that want to exercise their rights to anonymous air travel (which Gilmore v Gonzalez ruled on) and terrorists that aren't good liars.
What these folks aren't getting is that by requiring ID, you're closing that old loophole that allowed (up until Saturday) anyone, good or bad, to show up with any boarding pass (theirs or someone else's), say they lost their ID, get a pat-down and bag check and be on their way. Now, no self respecting terrorist is going to subject him or herself to all the additional attention the new procedures brings. This includes: the possibility of interviews with behavior detection officers, calls about them to our national counter-terrorism ops center, unpredictable physical and bag screening and the real possibility of a chat with a local or federal law enforcement officer. No, now we're funneling people with bad intentions towards our expert-trained document checkers and behavior experts. Could a bad person produce an excellent fake ID and get past document checkers... sure. We know that no single layer is invulnerable, but forcing terrorists into what we want as opposed to what they prefer is just good security.
We'll continue to update the stats here and continue to thank the 99.9995 percent of air travelers that work with us to quickly and easily establish their identity.
Sterling
EoS Blog Team
We're 48 hours into the new procedure and things have been smooth so far. Approximately 650 people have shown up to security checkpoints without ID and a total of 20 people have not been allowed to fly. That is .0005 percent of the approximately four million people that flew this weekend.
Of the 650 people that showed up without ID, it's taking us an average of 10 minutes to verify their identity and get them on their way. We're able to do this so quickly because of the close coordination of our officers at airports and our 24/7 ops center.
Our critics say this has nothing to do with security and it only affects people that want to exercise their rights to anonymous air travel (which Gilmore v Gonzalez ruled on) and terrorists that aren't good liars.
What these folks aren't getting is that by requiring ID, you're closing that old loophole that allowed (up until Saturday) anyone, good or bad, to show up with any boarding pass (theirs or someone else's), say they lost their ID, get a pat-down and bag check and be on their way. Now, no self respecting terrorist is going to subject him or herself to all the additional attention the new procedures brings. This includes: the possibility of interviews with behavior detection officers, calls about them to our national counter-terrorism ops center, unpredictable physical and bag screening and the real possibility of a chat with a local or federal law enforcement officer. No, now we're funneling people with bad intentions towards our expert-trained document checkers and behavior experts. Could a bad person produce an excellent fake ID and get past document checkers... sure. We know that no single layer is invulnerable, but forcing terrorists into what we want as opposed to what they prefer is just good security.
We'll continue to update the stats here and continue to thank the 99.9995 percent of air travelers that work with us to quickly and easily establish their identity.
Sterling
EoS Blog Team
Friday, June 20, 2008
New ID Requirements Begin Tomorrow
If you're flying tomorrow, or anytime in the near future, you may want to make a note that tomorrow is the day the TSA enhances its ID requirements. There have been many misconceptions of the new requirements and I just wanted to attempt to clear things up a little bit.We've all been there. You've got a million things to do before you fly. Pay bills, pack, get the kids ready, get your clothes from the dry cleaner, you name it. Whatever it is you have to do, it's inevitable that you'll forget at least one of them from time to time. (Hopefully not the kids) I usually forget my toothbrush.
What if you forget your ID? Is your vacation ruined? Are you going to miss your meeting? Are you going to miss the Elvis Costello show this weekend at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall? Not at all… If you simply state you forgot your ID, we will work with you to verify your ID, you may undergo some additional screening and will be permitted to fly.
On the other hand, if you do not cooperate and state that you're not willing to show us your ID, you will not be permitted to fly.
You show your ID to test drive a car, view an apartment, buy a house, cash a check, buy cigarettes or alcohol, rent videos and so forth. The list could go on and in some of these circumstances; they hold onto your card or make a copy. We're just asking for a few moments of your time to ensure your name matches the name on your ticket.
Is this about control? No. It's about knowing who is getting on the plane. It's about shifting our focus towards people instead of items on a list. You know as well as we do that you can make a weapon out of anything. The naked human body of someone skilled in martial arts is far more dangerous than most people with a weapon. We know that and we're shifting towards that line of thought. It is going to be a huge change in our culture, but I and others firmly believe this is the proper evolution path for security.
If our goal is to keep bad people off of planes, and our law enforcement and intelligence partners have gone to the lengths of creating watch lists of known terrorists to keep them off said planes, we have to know for sure that each person who goes through matches the name on their boarding pass and is who they say they are. Most people are not a threat, but we know there are people out there that could pose a threat. Letting anyone go through who says "I don't want to show my ID" is not good security. It's not a poke in the eye to certain folks – it's about security for everyone and we view verifying identity as importantly as we view having passengers pass through metal detectors.
Make sure you also check out Christopher's blog post on IDs.
Bob
EoS Blog Team
Monday, June 16, 2008
The Evolution Continues
Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) became the latest airport to unveil Checkpoint Evolution today. They introduced passengers to the new uniform, training, and new signage all geared towards making the checkpoint a much more relaxing environment while also enhancing security.We sent Jeremy (best known for his work spinning on our evolution Web site) to Reagan National today to get some photo and video from officers and passengers. Luckily, while Jeremy was on location, there were no sightings of puppies or poultry projectiles.
We’re excited to continue to introduce more passengers to the Evolution of Security and I personally can’t wait to fly through DCA again so I can give it a test drive.Bob
TSA EoS Blog Team
Friday, June 13, 2008
Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
(Photo is a dramatic recreation)
While this story is not directly related to the TSA, it shows that a bomb can be hidden anywhere by those with fowl intent (pun intended). We thought we'd have a little fun, we hope you enjoy it:
We’re not sure why the chicken crossed the road, but we do know what happened after it did.
On June 10th in Simsbury, Connecticut, police found a pipe bomb stuffed inside of a raw roasting chicken. The chicken was noticed on the side of the road by a passing motorist with a bird’s eye view...
The Police Chief declined to comment due to the pending investigation, so at this point, we’re not sure who hatched this bird-brained plot or why.
It is possible that some misguided youth were egged on to make the poultry projectile. But the real intent is unknown.
The Hartford Police Department's bomb squad took stock in the incident and arrived on scene to detonate the chicken. The road was closed during the detonation, preventing anybody from crossing. (Including Chickens) One member of the squad stated it was poultry in motion (yes we're kidding).
We hope that nobody takes advantage of this incident by using tired old chicken puns (how lame would that be). Remember to report all suspicious activity.
Bob
EoS Blog Team
While this story is not directly related to the TSA, it shows that a bomb can be hidden anywhere by those with fowl intent (pun intended). We thought we'd have a little fun, we hope you enjoy it:We’re not sure why the chicken crossed the road, but we do know what happened after it did.
On June 10th in Simsbury, Connecticut, police found a pipe bomb stuffed inside of a raw roasting chicken. The chicken was noticed on the side of the road by a passing motorist with a bird’s eye view...
The Police Chief declined to comment due to the pending investigation, so at this point, we’re not sure who hatched this bird-brained plot or why.
It is possible that some misguided youth were egged on to make the poultry projectile. But the real intent is unknown.
The Hartford Police Department's bomb squad took stock in the incident and arrived on scene to detonate the chicken. The road was closed during the detonation, preventing anybody from crossing. (Including Chickens) One member of the squad stated it was poultry in motion (yes we're kidding).
We hope that nobody takes advantage of this incident by using tired old chicken puns (how lame would that be). Remember to report all suspicious activity.
Bob
EoS Blog Team
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