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TSA Strikes Again: This Time They Give Pat-Down to a Baby!
TSA Search a Baby?
In the recent past there has been a public outcry when TSA agents opted to pat down a 3-year-old, and a search (videotaped by parents) of a 6-year-old girl. But the TSA has proven yet again that they are not engaging in “profiling” by age and performed a search on someone even younger. How young?
Two agents did a full pat down of a baby, a non-walking, non-talking, and no doubt, non-terrorist baby. A helpless baby being held up in the air by his mother while the smiling TSA workers did their job. The TSA agents reportedly seemed to concentrate their search on the baby’s diapered lower half. Did they think the wee one was smuggling a weapon in there? The reason the child was searched was apparently because that his stroller set off an alarm when it went through security. The search was witnessed by fellow traveler Jacob Jester who tweeted the above photo and wrote…“Just saw #tsa agents patting down a little baby at @KCIAirport. Pretty sure that’s extreme.”
The TSA will look into the search but did state to the MailOnline that they have, “reviewed the screening of this family and determined that the officers involved followed proper current screening procedures.” They added that, “per protocol, officers had to conduct additional screening on the family after the child’s stroller alarmed during explosives screening. The family was very cooperative and the process was completed without incident.” But they also mentioned that this issue of screening those so young will be reviewed added that, they have “been actively reviewing its screening policies and procedures to streamline and improve the screening experience for low-risk populations, such as younger passengers.”
Do you think the screening of children -and now babies – has gone too far or is it just part of the price of keeping airline travel safe?
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14 Comments
Diera commented on May 09 11 at 7:56 pmWasn’t there a story recently here on Babble about a father who was using his baby to smuggle drugs (I believe the drugs were hidden in the car seat)? I don’t think anyone thinks the BABY is a terrorist, but I think it’s certainly possible that an adult might use a baby to smuggle something. I don’t agree with the TSA screening methods at all, but if you’re doing to do them in the first place, you should do them to anyone no matter how innocent-looking or the innocent-looking will be the weak spot in the screening process.
Britney commented on May 09 11 at 8:26 pmNever. I think that TSA has gone too far. Quite frankly, I think all of the security measures have gone too far. There comes a point when we have to say that our freedom isn’t worth the trampling of our privacy and rights. If they wanted to give my daughter a pat down, I wouldn’t fly. End of story. I don’t want to have to explain to my LO why a strange man/woman was placing his/her hands all over her.
Lisa commented on May 09 11 at 8:43 pmSimple answer: profiling.
It works.
Sarah commented on May 09 11 at 9:07 pmProfiling does work…until they catch on (2 secs) and start using babies to smuggle drugs, bombs and any other God awful thing “they” can think of. Isn’t it better to be proactive. We search babies. Don’t try to use them to smuggle anything. Yes it sucks that we live in a world where we even have to talk about these things but we do. As awful as it is…id rather read this story than one where they missed something and something worse happened.
Cissyrene commented on May 09 11 at 10:14 pm@Lisa, exactly
Rosana commented on May 10 11 at 8:56 amI don’t think the pat down babies because they think the little ones are smuggling anything. The reason is that when it comes to terrorists, they will hide explosives wherever possible, even children (who not neccesarily have to be their own). If the stroller set the alarm off, they have a reason to search. Now, the smile on the agents faces tells you that they are only doing their job as absurds as it might look.
Believe me, there are agents that can make people have a bad experience at the airport even when it has nothing to with their job.
dmill commented on May 10 11 at 10:02 amNote: the person tweeting was NOT the family involved but someone looking for their 5 min of fame. Obviously reasonable people were involved in this. The agents obviously knew it was absurd but had a job to do and did their best to make it pleasant. The family was obviously reasonable because they knew the rules required them to a pat-down once they set off the alarm and made the best of it. If you chose to fly, you are subject to TSA rules and your attitude, as with all things in life, makes a huge difference in how you are treated.
Jenny commented on May 10 11 at 10:17 amThis is nothing new. My son is almost 5 and when he was 6 months old the TSA patted him down too.
Kate commented on May 10 11 at 12:56 pmIt’s one of those things we’re going to have to live with if we want to fly. Frankly, if fewer people chose to fly I think that would be great for the environment. We can’t have ANYTHING that we will place 100% off limits to searching, as long as there are terrorists who will use that one tiny crack (no pun intended) to place a deadly weapon on a passenger plane.
BeesMommy commented on May 10 11 at 6:38 pmI think next time we fly I am going to have the whole family wear bathing suits.
Mistress_Scorpio commented on May 10 11 at 7:14 pmAs long as it’s only brown people being profiled and inconvenienced, right?
Manjari commented on May 10 11 at 7:57 pmWhat M_S said!
John Doe commented on Jul 13 11 at 11:44 pmNow my baby’s poop bomb maybe a real stinkbomb. Next time I am shoving a dirty ass diper in thier faces. smell this TSA!
taren commented on Jul 15 11 at 9:12 amThis is why we drive instead of flying!!!
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