In response to a customer's complaint on a blog, the Transportation Security Administration has posted security camera video on the web. From the AP:
The Transportation Security Administration is denying allegations that an airport screener seized a toddler's sippy cup and mistreated his mother, taking the unusual step of posting security camera footage on its Web site.
The TSA said in a statement that the incident and the videotape demonstrate that its "officers display professionalism and concern for all passengers."
At issue is whether Monica Emmerson, a former Secret Service officer, was improperly detained June 11 after she spilled water out of her child's sippy cup at Washington's Reagan National Airport.
TSA has banned most fluids at airport security checkpoints for nearly a year because of concern about possible liquid explosives.
Link: TSA Counters Sippy Cup Allegation (SFGate/AP)
The TSA posted the video on a page called MythBusters. Here's the original story at the "crowd powered media" site NowPublic: Nightmare at Reagan National Airport. Mark Frauenfelder at BoingBoing has a play-by-play of the video.
So is the TSA being run by teenagers now? Is this really a professional way to respond to a passenger's concern, by shaming the person in public on the web? Whether the woman's story is accurate (and there's good reason to think it's not) I still find the TSA's methods here disturbing and unprofessional, as are some of the comments by the "citizen journalists" at NowPublic.
The fact that TSA will post security videos on a whim doesn't give much confidence about the privacy of images from those new X-ray backscatter people scanners. Perhaps soon the TSA will also be posting disputed X-rays on the web to shame passengers who lie or make too much fuss.
TSA is always getting bashed - rightly or wrongly. They're in a tough spot trying to keep us safe while all the people whine about having to take shoes off. If this lady misbehaved and tried to blame them, good for TSA to call her on it.
The video shows the woman dump her water out on the floor, which was just plain stupid. If not for that, the cops wouldn't have been involved. Trying to get out of it by saying she's with the Secret Service wasn't smart either.
You get what you give.
Posted by: helenagal | Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 04:14 PM
Here's the video of their statement:
http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/413608?c_id=wom-bc-mam
And for the record, she wasn't unlawfully detained, she was forced to obey the rules. I'm proud of the security for showing this stuck-up mom that she's not special just because she's late for the gate.
--Matthew from the US desk at TheNewsRoom.com
Posted by: Matthew | Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 09:07 AM