I’ve written in the past criticizing the TSA and up until now, I haven’t been put on any “extra screen” list as far as I know. However, that may change after this post.
I had to fly from San Diego to Newark this past week and encountered a situation with the TSA that reinforces my feelings that the government has wasted tremendous amounts of money on a useless system. I started by flying out of San Diego’s commuter terminal which has only a few people manning the checkpoint and I’ve never encountered an issue; we breezed through after I did my standard ritual of emptying my pockets of all my gadgets (I put them in my bag before the checkpoint), take off my shoes, my sweatshirt, etc. The line is always short at this terminal, so the screeners have plenty of time to carefully check passengers if they wish; they don’t.
On the way home, we flew out of Newark’s Liberty airport and had no problems with security going this way as well even though it appeared that they cared a little more about security.
When I got home today, I emptied out my laptop bag and reached far into a pocket that I normally don’t store anything. What I pulled out of the pocket made my jaw drop. I completely forgot what I had put into the pocket.
Here’s what I found:
I immediately knew what it was; it was a small multi-tool that I put into my bag. Here’s what it looks like out of the sheath.
And this last picture shows the tool completely open.
Yes, the tool has several blades, a pair of pliers, a nail file and some screwdrivers.
So, I managed to get this through 2 security checkpoints without being stopped or questioned. I didn’t realize this was in there and would have gladly surrendered it if it was brought to my attention (it was cheap). I’ve questioned the methods of the TSA for awhile, but this reinforces the point that the overt screening techniques of the TSA are utterly and completely useless.
I think that the government needs to take a closer look at the TSA and invest more in profiling and intelligence than in the current, useless method of screening passengers. Should a screener have been able to detect this multi-tool? Probably, but if they can’t clearly see it on the x-ray, then what good is the x-ray?
Will I be getting a call from the TSA or will someone appear at my door tomorrow because of this post? I have no idea.