TSA Spent $878 Million on Screening Program That Probably Doesn't Work

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/tsa-spent-878-million-on-screening-program-that-probably-doesnt-work/281534/



The Transportation Security Administration has spent almost $900 million dollars since 2007 on a program to scan crowds for signs that someone is a terrorist. The Government Accountability Office reviewed the program. Their finding: Congress ought to shut it down, because there's no evidence that the tactic works.

The Washington Post reports:

Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.), the top-ranking Democrat on the Committee on Homeland Security, said the GAO report confirmed that the program “is fundamentally flawed, cannot be proven effective, and should no longer be funded with taxpayer dollars.” The TSA defended the program Wednesday.

“Behavior detection is vital to TSA’s layered approach to deter, detect, and disrupt individuals who pose a threat to aviation,” the TSA said in statement responding to the report. “Looking for suspicious behavior is a common sense approach used by law enforcement and security personnel across the country and the world.”

The Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program employs 2,800 TSA personnel.

[bemildred]

1. Another reason I refuse to fly.

I won't pay to be profiled and treated like cattle.

[DefenseLawyer]

2. As long as they keep protecting me from shampoo

I'll be happy.

[DetlefK]

3. I've seen an interview once with an expert on this technique.

The secret is to know and recognize all the tiny hints that give away what a person is thinking. The expert gave an example how this could go wrong:
He was at an airport, teaching his technique, when he suddenly recognized that a particular passenger showed signs that he immediately recognized as desperation, but nobody else was picking them up. Thinking that the passenger might be a suicide-bomber or something, the expert warned the officers. They went over and talked to that passenger. That guy was on his way to his brother's funeral.

[pipoman]

4. ...

"scan crowds for signs that someone is a terrorist" = "profiling" by amateurs and the marginally intelligent who apply for work with TSA and take a couple of classes at Quantico..

[xchrom]

6. !

too true.

[Revanchist]

5. But the TSA is so astute at identifying a potential threat

[Fumesucker]

7. Never has Dirksen's quip been more appropriate

A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money.

[xchrom]

8. i remember old 'Silver Throat' so clearly.

i don't think there has ever been a voice - literally - so distinct.