SPOT The Problem?

I hate to fly. Can't stand it, I don't like heights at all and that lack of contact thing with the ground...well, let's just say that I'm glad I wasn't on OceanAir Flight 815. I fit this profile, so why bother?

TIME.com: A New Tack for Airport Screening: Behave Yourself -- Page 1: "Here's how it works: Select TSA employees will be trained to identify suspicious individuals who raise red flags by exhibiting unusual or anxious behavior, which can be as simple as changes in mannerisms, excessive sweating on a cool day, or changes in the pitch of a person's voice. Racial or ethnic factors are not a criterion for singling out people, TSA officials say. Those who are identified as suspicious will be examined more thoroughly; for some, the agency will bring in local police to conduct face-to-face interviews and perhaps run the person's name against national criminal databases and determine whether any threat exists. If such inquiries turn up other issues countries with terrorist connections, police officers can pursue the questioning or alert Federal counterterrorism agents. And of course the full retinue of baggage x-rays, magnatometers and other checks for weapons will continue.

So far, the results for SPOT have been encouraging. According to Naccara, the SPOT program has resulted in the arrest of more than 50 people for having fake IDs, entering the country illegally or drug possession. It also has caught one of its own: several months ago a representative from the Department of Homeland Security tested the system by trying to get a fake weapon through the screening checkpoint; he was successfully stopped by a STOP screener. The TSA will also consider deploying SPOT teams to other transportation systems like train and bus stations."

Sounds good to me. Not really. Regular people never look nervous or irritated when traveling. Everything always go soo smoothly.

Mini-shrinks in uniform. Superficial training with the power to affect a person's life. I feel safer already.

Tags: SPOT, flying,