I’ve
seen some headlines stating that TSA Officers accused a 4-year-old child of
having a firearm. This wasn’t the case, and I wanted to take a few moments to
explain what happened.
TSA has long had a
security procedure where if somebody has contact with a person who is
undergoing additional screening, they must also undergo additional
screening. Why you might ask? You’ve probably heard the old saying that
the hand can be faster than eye? Well… that’s the reasoning behind this
procedure. There’s always the chance that a prohibited item could be
traded off during contact. I’m sure you’ve watched the scene play out in
more than one movie where two people collide or shake hands and an item
is traded off? Same thing…
We did recently roll out new procedures that reduce the need for pat-downs of children.
These new screening procedures include permitting multiple passes
through the metal detector and advanced imaging technology to clear any
alarms as well as the greater use of explosives trace detection. These
changes in protocol will ultimately reduce – though not eliminate –
pat-downs of children. But… this is one of those examples where a
pat-down of a child was necessary.
It
was explained to the family why the pat-down was needed and at no time
did our Officers suggest the child was carrying a firearm. We’ve reviewed the incident and determined that our officers followed proper current screening procedures.
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