Marijuana.com

Darque Pervert

I've bolded the important point in this scenario:

We have no idea what that suspicious behavior was, mind you. However, as Bart, myself and others have said time and time again, as long as you play nice with the TSA agents and don't give them any shit, you're going to be OK.
Under normal circumstances, the TSA agents have no reason to search you beyond a wanding or a rudimentary pat-down.

__________________

Life is always a spiral. It's the choices of the individual as to whether that spiral is aimed up or down.

 

spliffany

is SPOT enforced at every airport in the usa ? also what physical or facial gestures are they looking for, other than the irregular sweating and nervousness?

I usually have no problem flying with goods ( domestically, thank god), I think this is because I am very low key, polite and when i feel under pressure I put on an innocent, naive demeanor ( meaning acting clueless to the screening procedures and/or to the weird looks from the tsa or paying more attention to securing my documents, magazines and almost taking my grand ole time to get passed, even after the xray machine). but, i'm not sure where, maybe on previous pages, there are articles that state that SPOT can detect microfacial expressions, aside from the obvious behaviors, in detecting suspicious behavoir. If that is the case, I am quite worried about doing my same routine in 2 weeks.

Also, if the education the TSA requires for a position is only a high school diploma. Then the SPOT people must be hold a degree, trained, or have a interest in the subject prior to applying. I truly don't believe they can just give a short term training course to prepare individuals and expect them to correctly detect suspicious behavior friom the normal, as well as these "microfacials"...but I could be wrong...

Darque Pervert

I am not certain what SPOT is, but from your post, it sounds like some facial recognition software or possibly a method of evaluating a person's behavior to determine guilt/innocence or somesuch.
If that's the case, no.

TSA agents are only looking for obvious threats to planes, crews or passengers. A gun is an obvious threat. A lump of Play-Doh with a bunch of wires attached to a clock would appear to be an obvious threat. A bag of marijuna would not be an obvious threat.
If a TSA agent searches a bag and finds marijuana, they are not obligated to report that. However, many TSA agents cooperate with local law enforcement and report any illegal substances they find.

When I got popped at the airport, I was a victim of bad luck combined w/ personal stupidity.
It was stupid of me to put my stash in my shaving kit in my checked luggage.
It was bad luck that the Sheriff's deputy happened to be looking over the shoulder of a TSA agent as he searched my bag.

spliffany

sorry Darque...SPOT is an acronym for Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques that is used by the TSA.

BartSimpson

Actually they are required to report such illegal items when they discover them. From the Chief Counsel for the TSA:
My guess is that the subject of my original post was carrying a significant quantity that exceeded the whitey-tighty method and was felt during the casual search, like an ounce or two taped to the inner thigh.

__________________

 

Darque Pervert

I stand corrected.
I was told by the Sheriff' when I got popped that it was just dumb luck.
Granted this was not too long after 9/11 & the formation of the TSA.
It could very well be that the TSA has changed their policies or something. It could also be that the LEO that cited me was simply wrong.

BartSimpson

My Brother, we share that uncommon experience of being busted in an Airport - and I have a great amount of respect for you as you try to clear up the sillyness we find in this thread - you are correct a thousand times more than incorrect. The Sheriff who wrote my ticket said a similar thing - it was dumb luck - because the x-ray machine was not working that day and the TSA was hand searching checked luggage. He said that had we met on the street, he would have simply wind-tested the MJ and sent me on my way - but he was required to cite me because of the TSA.

I have two primary relatives who work for the TSA, one in management and another as a screener. So you can bet that after I was busted I called my relatives. They both explained that the policy existed since the beginning because it is necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of the TSA screening process. The only dumb luck I experienced was the number of times prior to my bust that I got away with it.

The TSA maintains an internal website that every incident involving contraband is posted so that the TSA National Operations Center can monitor and analyze in real time the various incidents to look for any immediate trends. Since weapons and explosives are statistically rare (millions of travelers and an average of two incidents a day) the proof they need to show effectiveness is in these unintended discoveries. This internal website is the pulse of the TSA, and full of idiots who put weed in their checked or carry-on luggage.

The TSA tests it's own screening process an average of 7 times a day in every airport - but recent testimony has demonstrated that these tests are too well known by screeners and they *wink* rarely fail. So the secondary method management uses to review the screening process is the discovery of contraband.

If you want to be promoted in the TSA - you have to find and document contraband. If the TSA wants funding, it has to demonstrate to Congress it's effectiveness.

spliffany

i usually hide my 1/2 oz around where my womb is...but i dont feel secure doing that, just in case i have to be patted down or they ask me to unbotton my pants( reading this thread has actually made me more informed, but a little more paranoid)...

i understand they found the bag in that persons
" groin" area and like Bart said it was probably more than he can fit...but say i use all the necessary precautions... and they do need to pat me down...do they ever search a woman's crotch area?..( i have never been searched, nor have i ever stopped to observe a woman being searched)

any advice would be greatly appreciated...

Vicki

I have traveled by air with an ounce more than once, and had no problems at all. I have always put it in my underwear, taped in securely. I only put it in my bra one time. Half ounce in each cup. That made me a little more paranoid as my cup size went up a lot, and just didn't feel right to me.

I've never been searched once, or patted down. I always make sure I follow all the airline rules, never carry metal (in purse or on person), and never give them a reason to suspect me.

__________________
"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."-John F. Kennedy
R.O.A.R-Reach Out. Act. Respond.
Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone.
- Martina Navratilova
You can lead Deeter to water, but you can't make her drink.

BartSimpson

I have been secondarily searched hundreds of times - your private areas remain private - I have never experienced a search that even came close to my whitey-tighties. But my thighs and legs have routinely been checked. I don't think there is a reasonable way to search a man's balls and taint without French-kissing him first.

As for searching a woman that intimately - cold day in hell - feminist organizations would fight it as sexual assault. You have nothing to fear by putting it in your granny-panties.

For a while there was a back-of-the-hand search of women's bra's (after an incident in Russia where women smuggled explosives onto aircraft in their bra's) but the uproar and indignation that was focused on the TSA made it very difficult. It remains an option but is very rare - so your bra is not suggested.