Having spent a good deal of time flying back and forth to Florida recently, I've started becoming annoyed yet again by the placebo that is our airport security. I'll focus only on my most recent trip, which took me to Ft. Lauderdale to a conference in the port there. The port was a 'secure zone', complete with armed guards (read: plastic police) checking photo IDs and asking where I was going each time I entered the port. Fine. Whatever.
As some of you may recall, I have previously spoken out against the idiocy that is our airport 'security'. I was being overly generous above when I called it a placebo, as anyone who has given the situation any thought realizes that it transcends placebo and borders on farce. How does the security checkpoint work?
1. Your person is checked using a metal detector.
2. Your bag is x-rayed.
And, most ridiculous of all,
3. Your SHOES are x-rayed.
So, if I want to take a bomb on the plane, I just put it anywhere other than in my shoes or in my bag and I'm good to go. I could hold enough plastique in my pocket to easily take out any commercial airliner, and it would be completely undetectable using a metal detector. Alternatively, I could fill Coke bottles with liquids that could be mixed to produce explosives or corrosives. They could look just like regular soda, passing completely undetected through the x-ray device. Or I could even stuff a shaving cream bottle with explosives. Getting any of these things through even a 100% accurate x-ray device would be completely trivial.
Of course, the above paragraph is a complete joke, since it assumes that the x-ray device/metal detectors are fool-proof and work every time. This is obviously a poor assumption, as they are only as strong as the worker who mans them. The TSA workers at the airport here in St. Louis, Tampa, and Ft. Lauderdale all managed to miss my pocket knife that was in a side pocket of my toiletry kit. So, I had boarded three planes with the knife. On my second time through security in Tampa (after a flight got delayed), security found the knife and took it. So, without even attempting to conceal the 'lethal weapon', I had successfully passed it through 75% of all security checkpoints I passed through. But it gets better. My razor, which was in the toiletry kit and was seen by the security agent prior to his finding the knife, was left where it was. Obviously, the 1/2" blade of the pocket knife was more dangerous than the razor, right? :roll:
The port security in Ft. Lauderdale was even more laughable. As long as someone in the vehicle flashed an ID and could name a single event going on within the port at the time, the guards didn't think twice about handing you a pass and sending you on your way. No vehicle searches, nothing. The last day I was there, two US Navy ships (a destroyer and a cruiser, I believe) were in port, as were three cruise ships and an oil tanker. I drove in my rented SUV and was merrily on my way, free to drive right up to any of these ships.
What is my point? That if you honestly feel safer because of security measures implemented before or after 9/11, you're living in a dream world. This is not to say that it's the government's fault. Indeed, the government has given the people exactly what they crave: a false sense of security. Reality check: the American people would not tolerate the amount of hassle that would be required to truly provide any non-trivial level of security. Such security would require thorough searches of all vehicles entering and exiting ports, checking the names of all passengers against lists of suspects, chemical analysis of all fluids to be taken into/out of these facilities, and a complete search of all bags being carried on/checked onto an airplane. The additional staffing, equipment, money, and time required for all of these tasks would be completely ridiculous, making any form of travel virtually impossible. So, we go happily about our business in complete ignorance because someone has rubber-stamped the security measures. Am I frightened that I'm flying back to Florida tomorrow with this faux security in place? Not at all. Nor do I feel any safer than when I flew pre-9/11. I just hope that others have also recognized this and do not really think that the changes have made any difference.
As some of you may recall, I have previously spoken out against the idiocy that is our airport 'security'. I was being overly generous above when I called it a placebo, as anyone who has given the situation any thought realizes that it transcends placebo and borders on farce. How does the security checkpoint work?
1. Your person is checked using a metal detector.
2. Your bag is x-rayed.
And, most ridiculous of all,
3. Your SHOES are x-rayed.
So, if I want to take a bomb on the plane, I just put it anywhere other than in my shoes or in my bag and I'm good to go. I could hold enough plastique in my pocket to easily take out any commercial airliner, and it would be completely undetectable using a metal detector. Alternatively, I could fill Coke bottles with liquids that could be mixed to produce explosives or corrosives. They could look just like regular soda, passing completely undetected through the x-ray device. Or I could even stuff a shaving cream bottle with explosives. Getting any of these things through even a 100% accurate x-ray device would be completely trivial.
Of course, the above paragraph is a complete joke, since it assumes that the x-ray device/metal detectors are fool-proof and work every time. This is obviously a poor assumption, as they are only as strong as the worker who mans them. The TSA workers at the airport here in St. Louis, Tampa, and Ft. Lauderdale all managed to miss my pocket knife that was in a side pocket of my toiletry kit. So, I had boarded three planes with the knife. On my second time through security in Tampa (after a flight got delayed), security found the knife and took it. So, without even attempting to conceal the 'lethal weapon', I had successfully passed it through 75% of all security checkpoints I passed through. But it gets better. My razor, which was in the toiletry kit and was seen by the security agent prior to his finding the knife, was left where it was. Obviously, the 1/2" blade of the pocket knife was more dangerous than the razor, right? :roll:
The port security in Ft. Lauderdale was even more laughable. As long as someone in the vehicle flashed an ID and could name a single event going on within the port at the time, the guards didn't think twice about handing you a pass and sending you on your way. No vehicle searches, nothing. The last day I was there, two US Navy ships (a destroyer and a cruiser, I believe) were in port, as were three cruise ships and an oil tanker. I drove in my rented SUV and was merrily on my way, free to drive right up to any of these ships.
What is my point? That if you honestly feel safer because of security measures implemented before or after 9/11, you're living in a dream world. This is not to say that it's the government's fault. Indeed, the government has given the people exactly what they crave: a false sense of security. Reality check: the American people would not tolerate the amount of hassle that would be required to truly provide any non-trivial level of security. Such security would require thorough searches of all vehicles entering and exiting ports, checking the names of all passengers against lists of suspects, chemical analysis of all fluids to be taken into/out of these facilities, and a complete search of all bags being carried on/checked onto an airplane. The additional staffing, equipment, money, and time required for all of these tasks would be completely ridiculous, making any form of travel virtually impossible. So, we go happily about our business in complete ignorance because someone has rubber-stamped the security measures. Am I frightened that I'm flying back to Florida tomorrow with this faux security in place? Not at all. Nor do I feel any safer than when I flew pre-9/11. I just hope that others have also recognized this and do not really think that the changes have made any difference.