4 ms·

I think of this quote every single time I go through the security theater at every US airport.

• jdavis703 5y ago
  Airplane hijackings and bombings used to be a relatively frequent occurrence. One can argue that the security is not worth the loss of freedom (e.g. not being able to bring a gun on a plane). But it doesn’t seem to follow that the security is merely theater.
  • bproctor 5y ago
    As a former TSA agent, it's most definitely theater. We used to practice by trying to hide something and see if we could get through. The xray operator didn't stand a chance even when they knew it was coming. This was over 10 years ago so maybe it's improved? I doubt it.
    • deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    • mh- 5y ago
      It hasn't. https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/20/politics/tsa-whistleblower-airport-safety-invs/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/20/politics/tsa-whistleblower-ai... In 2015, agents with Department of Homeland Security posing as passengers snuck fake explosives through the security lines of several of the nation’s busiest airports. During the test, TSA officers missed 67 of the 70 fake weapons that went through the checks – a failure rate of 95%.
      • pashamur 5y ago
        I wonder if the TSA has some signaling effect though apart from the actual efficacy of the security theatre. Even if it catches things rarely, the fact that it exists makes people more aware and potentially look out more for abnormal behavior in airports (and catching some things some times still probably acts as a deterrent - at least more so than not having the security theatre around)
  • option 5y ago
    if terrorists want to inflict as much damage and terror as possible wouldn’t they just blow up a (typically huge) line before the security? I think they actually did just that in Moscow airport once.