this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2024
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[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 178 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (6 children)

TSA has an 80% failure rate during inspections.

Everyone knows the TSA is useless. I know people who have accidentally carried fixed blade knives through security without getting stopped.

[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 53 points 4 months ago (1 children)

But you can be damn sure they'll catch that 5oz bottle of shampoo you've got.

BTW: your link is broken because you have a 9 at the beginning

[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 38 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Yet they never, ever fail to miss the banana I have in my carry-on for manual review. They very literally only look for the lowest-hanging fruit in scans. And that's not a joke, they focus on the easiest to do and accept or reject.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 31 points 4 months ago (2 children)

They keep intensely checking my stuffed triceratops. Triclor is a good boy and they need to stop picking on him.

[–] AliasVortex@lemmy.world 15 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Aww! It's not a pet per se, so I can't invoke the pet tax, but might I request a picture of your stuffed friend?

[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 11 points 4 months ago

#JusticeForTriclor

[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I’ve accidentally brought my pocket knife through the TSA multiple times. But coffee? That that’s clearly a bomb let’s scan it.

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[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 37 points 4 months ago

I brought a 3-inch credit card blade (acquired at a trade show, with some tech company logo on it) through the airport four consecutive times without even realizing it.

I found it while packing for another trip, and I decided to gut my overly-thick wallet and realized that I'd been carrying it around everywhere, including through courtrooms and other government buildings that X-ray everything I bring every time I pass through as a contractor.

So yeah, a knife inside my wallet went through about 50 X-ray machines at federal facilities completely undetected, and I unknowingly carried it through all sorts of places where it is extremely illegal to have a knife. They always scolded me though if I tried to bring anything made of glass, like a coke bottle or something, because it could be used as a weapon.

Pictured:

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 34 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah, wtf do they mean 'they don't know how?'.

The TSA is probably the only employer in America worse than Boeing when it comes to employees giving a shit about doing their jobs and actually doing them well.

Both organizations promote incompetent ass kissers over those who actually give a shit, and both orgs also have a massive culture of making up excuses for why something that was supposed to happen did not.

Oh right, both also have absurd amounts of paperwork that 'ensures' policy was followed, but seeing as everyone hates you if you actually try to keep up with it, most people just focus on a few main things and sign off on anything.

[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I mean "they don't know how" doesn't have to mean this is an exceptional case

They could just be ubiquitously incompetent and they don't know how a lot of stuff happens

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[–] JayleneSlide@lemmy.world 111 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I travel a lot for work. US Customs and the TSA are absolutely a sick joke. I could easily write a novella on the extremely poor training of TSA employees. I have a small permanent retainer (read: braces); about 25% of the time, that is considered suspicious, and I get an enhanced inspection. "Ya know, I could just open my mouth and show you what's in there."

The TSA always determines that my juggling balls are suspicious, so I never pack them in carry-on anymore. I have NEXUS, yet I always get an enhanced inspection on return to the US. Literally every other country to which I have flown just waves me through, even before I got Pre-Check/NEXUS/Global Entry.

My partner had her rigging knife in her backpack on a flight out and back. She was unpacking and found it in her backpack after the trip. Good catch, TSA.

And the absolute frosting on the TSA shit sandwich: one of my close friends owns a private security firm. His company was approached by the TSA to assist in security audits at a major international airport. He and his team were contracted to "smuggle" fake firearms through TSA checkpoints, any way they could. The TSA repeatedly failed to detect the firearms for each of five audits. The TSA division (district? regional?) manager, frustrated at his group's 100% failure rate, determined that my friend's company must have specialized criminal training, and everyone who worked that contract were put on the no-fly list. It took him about 18 months to unfuck that mess for him and his employees.

I had written a few more paragraphs about TSA hassles, but I think y'all get the picture.

[–] TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 64 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The TSA division (district? regional?) manager, frustrated at his group's 100% failure rate, determined that my friend's company must have specialized criminal training, and everyone who worked that contract were put on the no-fly list.

What in the fuck?

[–] JayleneSlide@lemmy.world 44 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Oh, throughout the whole thing, he and his employees were treated like garbage. He would get through security, go directly to the person's office, and reassemble the pistol in front of the manager. And then my friend (or one of his employees) would get interrogated for hours on unrelated questions, like it was somehow my friend's fault that the TSA failed their audits.

[–] Dempf@lemmy.zip 9 points 4 months ago

Damn I think this might somehow be worse than the Iowa county who had physical pen testers arrested: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/01/iowa-prosecutors-drop-charges-against-men-hired-to-test-their-security/

[–] Swemg@lemm.ee 15 points 4 months ago (2 children)
[–] JayleneSlide@lemmy.world 17 points 4 months ago (3 children)

If my juggling of balls catches your fancy, you might also be interested to know that I also smoke meat, play the flute, and churn butter. 😆

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 17 points 4 months ago

He does it every single flight.
All of those things.

An absolute pleasure to share a flight with.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Are you a Hobbit or something? Because I approve all those things.

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[–] azimir@lemmy.ml 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I've carried a set of leather wrapped juggling balls on flights off and on since the 90's. They used to make every X-ray reader twitch out. They're about the right size for bad items (explosives, grenades), and I have three, not just one.

Normally it would get a quick search, a moment of confusion, and then no worries.

Once when going through the old airport in Berlin, I got searched at the second checkpoint, they brought out the balls to me, so I started juggling them and did a routine. It was really quiet so I was the only passenger in sight. That was the only time I've performed in front of an audience who was carrying machine guns.

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[–] MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io 50 points 4 months ago

Of course they don’t know how it got missed! If the knew how, they’d’ve been able to improve their 70+% miss rate

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 50 points 4 months ago

Isn't TSA just a money-grab?

With no actual oversight, requirements, or sanctions, that's just transfer of public money to some random wage-slaves and private subcontractors (like for the all-so-special equipment they must have, as well as tons of gloves and lube they consume daily).

Im sure AI could do racial profiling just as racially biased as them, and also fail at detecting any real threats. And Im sure I've seen some 'cavity search'-like robots online that could be deployed.

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 40 points 4 months ago (5 children)

I know this one… it’s because the TSA sucks and isn’t anything more than security theater.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago

What's surreal is being in a security line that is so backed up that the TSA on duty decide to tell people to keep their shoes on, and they open up the old fashioned metal detector to supplement the body scanner just to get people through faster.

Straight up confirmation that none of what they do matters.

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[–] cmbabul@lemmy.world 37 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I put a 5 inch blade in a bag I used for work that I totally forgot about, for 2 full years and flew all over the US without anyone calling me on it. I’m glad that TSA provides employment for so many people but they are in fact a joke

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[–] foggy@lemmy.world 35 points 4 months ago

Because the TSA Is theatre.

[–] crystalmerchant@lemmy.world 26 points 4 months ago

Mmmmm love the smell of security theater in the morning

[–] Kolrami@lemmy.world 25 points 4 months ago (1 children)

And yet I've had to throw out a whole bottle of St. Ives lotion. Which country is threatened by me having silky smooth skin?

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

You ever try to take down a greased up deaf guy?

[–] isgleas@lemmy.ml 24 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

I think they are quite consistent, as a foreigner, when I travel to the US I get the random inspection every.single.time

/s

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[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 21 points 4 months ago (1 children)

No idea? It comes down to the one person doing the job that may or may not care.

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[–] 3ntranced@lemmy.world 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

A hypothetical version of myself may have worked in an International Airport as a security lead. That hypothetical version would have to pass through general passenger TSA and Border checkpoint dozens of times a day. They also may have always been carrying dab pens on him and his coworkers might have on several occasions just carried handguns through that they might have forgotten on their persons.

Yeah Airports are to security as Ant traps are to an exterminator. Lotta smoke and mirrors. Most cameras are non functioning or just straight up not wired in the first place.

[–] Lag@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

Can confirm hypothetical dab pens. And joyrides in the electric carts next to the planes taking off.

[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If you can't keep track of your ammunition, you should not own a firearm.

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 7 points 4 months ago

If you can't keep track of your guns, you should not own ammunition.

[–] VelvetStorm@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Just a few months ago, my wife and I went on vacation, and she had my mushroom hunting knife with like a 4 or 5-inch blade on it in her purse. The purse went through scanners and everything and no one said a fucking thing. Didn't realize we had the knife until we were on the plane in the air, and she went to get gum out.

[–] remotedev@lemmy.ca 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yet when I was bringing some fudge home for family, I got hassled on it being too much...

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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago

Pro-tip: Keep your range bag and your travel bag SEPARATE. Problem solved!

[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 12 points 4 months ago

I passed through TSA with a pocket knife, a small pair of sewing scissors, and a Leatherman multitool I forgot I put in my work backpack, but had to throw away my solid hand lotion for being 3.4oz. Larger than 3oz was a potential explosive, they told me. I had to toss it in a trashcan filled to overflowing with other potential explosives, located in the most populated area of the airport. I guess so it would take out as many people as possible and do the most structural damage, if my sealed Working Hands lotion was to explode and set off the other containers of lotions, water, and sodas. TSA is a joke.

[–] robocall@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

some people are way too casual about guns and ammo

[–] ShadowRam@fedia.io 9 points 4 months ago

There's a higher chance Boeing will kill me than anything people bring on board.

[–] reddit_sux@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago

American border is like prison border with the world being the prison. They are more concerned about people getting out of the prison than people getting in.

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

TSA is not in a fun position.

They are literally dealing with "The Most Armed Nation ... In The World." /clarkson And that is not often given to them out loud as the reality of their working parameters. Statistically that gives them a magnified margin of error by sheer volume of gun owners in the USA to my mind.

That said I have been terrorized by some TSA operators and patted down in the Denver airport without being asked or given a chance to have privacy by a TSA in the middle of line.

So won't you at least give the TSA a chance to go fuck themselves ?

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago

It is a mix of "American tourists who are to stupid to consult government service pages about their destination" and "TSA is all about perceived security, but not real security".

[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 6 points 4 months ago (3 children)

The same way all my weed carts make it through in my carry on. X-ray machines are confusing, and contraband in tiny and is easily obscured.

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