Aviation securityTSA hopes to limit child patdowns
On Wednesday the head of Transportation security Administration (TSA) said the agency was working to make security screening procedures less intrusive for small children; airport screeners will be instructed to make repeated attempts to screen children using electronic methods; the agency hopes that this will limit, but not eliminate, the number of children receiving pat downs
TSA will try to avoid child pat-down searches // Source: kalifm.com
On Wednesday the head of Transportation security Administration (TSA)said the agency was working to make security screening procedures less intrusive for small children.
Airport screeners will be instructed to make repeated attempts to screen children using electronic methods. The agency hopes that this will limit, but not eliminate, the number of children receiving pat downs.
In April TSA drew sharp criticism after a video of a six year old girl getting patted down at the New Orleans airport was posted online. TSA head John Pistole explained the girl had moved during a body scan resulting in a blurry image and therefore required a pat down.
Critics say the patdowns are too invasive and unnecessary for children and the elderly as they pose little threat.
Last month a similar incident generated public outrage when a small baby was patted down at the Kansas City International Airport. The baby’s stroller had set off an alarm that indicated that there were possible traces of explosives, so airport screeners, with the mother’s assistance, patted down the baby to investigate the matter.
Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Pistole said that TSA was actively working to revamp its policies on screening children and that more changes would be announced soon.
Pistole noted that children would not stop being screened all together as terrorists in other countries have used children as young as ten years old as suicide bombers. There have been no recorded instances of children being used to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States, so “we need to use common sense,” he said.
