Detect this!
Posted by Ben on June 6th, 2003
Those of you who know me (and if you’ve stubmled across this blog by means other than one of those index sites, you probably do) know that I travel a lot. As a result, I get to go through airport security on a fairly regular basis. I’ve noticed a huge disconnect between how the big airports (ie, Chicago O’Hare) and the smaller airports (ie, Syracuse “International”) do it.
At O’Hare, they (the TSA) have thoughtfully provided a little platform that your can step on to see if your shoes will trigger the metal detector. If it doesn’t beep, you’re ok. If it does, they recommend you remove your shoes. There’s lots of people going through security, but the line moves pretty darned quick. Last week, there were about 8 TSA personnel working 2 security lanes. I only saw one bag that needed to be rescreened because the X-ray operator wasn’t sure what was in there.
At Syracuse, they require you to take off your shoes. Even if you were wearing one of those weird laceless pairs of Nike running shoes. Even if you know that your shoes (and your belt-buckle, and your fly zipper) aren’t going to set off the detector, the shoes come off. The line doesn’t move fast, and it takes 8 personnel to work one security line. 4 bags were rescreened while I was waiting to go through after showing my boarding pass and ID to the rent-a-guard.
Which one do I feel safer at? Chicago. To this day, if someone wanted to breach security at an airport, they’d choose to do it at some small non-hub backwater airport, like SYR. I’m sure we’ve all heard that certain foods look suspicious when inspected, and in all likelihood will trigger a hand-search. Cheese, for instance. Guess what I had in my bag in Syracuse? A three-pound chunk of aged New York cheddar. Guess whose bag didn’t get hand-searched? Three guesses, and the first two don’t count.
If they ever go with a “trusted traveler ID” program that would allow me to breeze through security, I’d gladly take it, even if it means a DNA sample, yada yada yada, just to avoid getting patted down by a fat sweaty guy who didn’t pass the test to be a real cop.