WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Some Complain Airport 'Pat-Down' Searches Invade Privacy
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By Eric Flack
(LOUISVILLE, November 24th, 2004) -- Expect heightened security at the Louisville International Airport this Thanksgiving holiday after a WAVE 3 investigation uncovered security lapses there. But where should the line be drawn when it comes to manual pat-down searches at airport security checkpoints? WAVE 3 Investigator Eric Flack reports.
Earlier this month, as part of a WAVE 3 Investigation, we had a field producer leave a bag, capable of holding 15 pounds of explosives, unattended in the middle of the main terminal. As our cameras rolled, it sat unnoticed for more than an hour.
Since that investigation, WAVE 3 has learned that there has been an increase in passengers reporting unattended bags to security personnel.
An airport spokesperson says the airport has also reaffirmed the need for airport police and Transportation Security Administration workers to watch for unattended bags.
Meanwhile, the TSA is now coming under fire for what some are calling an invasion of privacy in the form of new security measures announced in September that expanded pat-downs at security checkpoints.
As millions take to the skies this Thanksgiving holiday, body searches will be common, even for those who don't set off metal detectors.
More than two centuries ago, founding father Ben Franklin wrote: "They that can give up essential Liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
But now in a post-911 world, many who travel by air, like Eleanor Morrison, believe "that's what our world has come to."
It's becoming a modern debate, with some people believing that "whatever has to be done should be done" to ensure safety; but other people feel the body searches are intrusive.
Lili Lutgens, with the ACLU of Kentucky, believes such searches go against what this country stands for. "When the practices that we choose to increase our safety are so intrusive on our liberty, this isn't the United States anymore."
It's the most "hands-on" security our nation's airline passengers have ever experienced: TSA screeners are now being instructed to pat down travelers who appear suspicious because of bulky clothing, not just those who set off metal detectors.
Screeners will also be allowed to use the inside of their hands to conduct the searches. Under the previous policy, only the backs of hands could be used.
That's OK with Morrison. "I would rather be safe than not. I don't have any problem with them looking inside of my clothes or patting me down."
While the changes make some feel more secure, others worry subjective pat-downs could lead to race and gender profiling.
"A disproportionate number of people who have been singled out for pat-down searches have in fact been women," Lutgens said. "Many of the searches have been quite intrusive."
Last month, two women in Lexington complained that TSA workers groped their breasts during pat-down searches.
In published reports, the TSA says pat-downs are necessary to guard against non-metallic explosives -- the kind that don't set off metal detectors. Those are the same kind of explosives used to bring down two Russian commercial planes in August.
Steve Delvillar says he was "was subjected to one of these pat-downs ... I thought it was a bit intrusive myself."
Delvillar thinks the government is going too far. "I think it's necessary to have good security measures. I'm not so sure that, given the X-ray screening and the other measure taken, I don't know if it's necessary to have the personal invasion of your own space."
It's a matter of privacy versus security, in a world where the line is hard to draw.
By policy, only female screener are supposed to pat down female passengers, but there have already been cases where no female TSA workers were available, and female passengers were patted down by male screeners.
Passengers do have the right to request a private screening.
When we contacted the TSA for comments on this story almost two weeks ago, we were promised a demonstration of what passengers could expect from the expanded pat-down searches. But despite repeated follow up calls, we never heard back from the TSA.
More on the Web:
Online Reporter: Eric Flack
Online Producer: Michael Dever
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