Oh look! There is a place for new users to introduce themselves. I should have done this last week when I joined up with you folks! I'm Bill Forster. I worked for the TSA for over four years in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). I quit after years of abuse from TSA managment. The weight of the TSA and its practaces were not only soul crushing as an employee but also as an American. Now I poke fun and mock my life with the TSA through my webcomic and blog called Homeland Security Theater -- www.homelandsecuritytheater.com. ...and I can assure you folks. It's exactly that! Theater. I also work in the comicbook world. I have several books published about The Transformers. (That's just me bragging!) Thanks for having me! I was introduced to Travel Underground through member doober. ...oh...and, HELLO!!
Again, welcome, Bill. Any juicy tidbits from the SOP would you care to share? Were you still with the TSA after the "accidental" release of the SOP to the public? If so, did it change a great deal afterwards?
Welcome Bill - I can't wait to checkout your website and hear more about what you have to say. Thanks for joining the good guys.
Welcome aboard, Bill! As stupid as I think the whole SSI thing is, I don't want to see anyone get in trouble.
Well, I am not going to publicly announce detailed instructions how to smuggle explosives though the checkpoint, so I don't want to print exactly what the SOP says. I don't really think anything good would come from that. Of course, I doubt anything bad would come from it either. Really it is mostly a How To book for screeners. If you have a specific question I will try to answer it. I was not with the TSA when the SOP leaked. I had just left. However I had friends still working there and they said that very little was mentioned about it and policy and procedure did not change. That's not surprising considering that they very rarely share information to the people on the floor. By the way, you can apparently buy a copy of that leaked SOP for $5 on Amazon from what I see.
What do you mean "enhanced"? There is pretty much only one SOP. There are some further expanded things for mangers and supervisors. Also the SOP does get updated.
I think KrazyKat may be asking for clarification on the updated Standard Pat Down procedures as they are used for NoS opt outs and WTMD failures effective November 2011. KrazyKat, you may not be aware, the discussion up to the point of your question centered around an SOP that was posted to the Internet by TSA in 2009. This version had been redacted, but what the mental midgets at TSA failed to do was redact it in such a way that it was permanently redacted. Some fairly techno-savvy people were able to undo the redactions, and TSAs entire playbook was laid bare for the entire world to see. Again showing that TSA has no business, and zero credibility, in the arena of security. They can't even properly secure their own documents. The information you are requesting wouldn't be in that SOP, as it has changed since that time. I believe BillForster also left TSA before the new and "improved" "pat down" that you received was incorporated.
Oh I see. As I am to understand it the new pat-downs are the same only more aggressive as it pertains to the crotch area. I had a friend who is still a TSO pat me down to demonstrate and it was just more forceful. It got up in my junk further and harder. They grab your leg but press the back of the hand against your junk. I left after the full body imagers came out. In fact, I think I was with the first group of officers to use the first machine installed in LAX. The opt out option was alwasy in place and the full body patdown was the alternative.
Welcome, Bill! Glad to see you here. I thoroughly enjoy your website; getting my RSS alert that you have a new post always makes my day a bit more entertaining (and at times infuriating). Thank you for your insights to date and I look forward to more of your posts.
