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TSA Orders Searches of Valet Parked Car At Airport
schwit1 writes "Laurie Iacuzza walked to her waiting car at the Greater Rochester International Airport after returning from a trip and that's when she found it — a notice saying her car was inspected after she left for her flight. She said, 'I was furious. They never mentioned it to me when I booked the valet or when I picked up the car or when I dropped it off.' Iacuzza's car was inspected by valet attendants on orders from the TSA."
Valet parked cars may remain in front of the busy area of the airport for a while before being parked.
Already-parked cars aren't near the airport.
If you're going to park a car full of explosives, you can either create a small crater in a car park, or you will go for the airport - so cars that are left outside are checked.
Yes, people who are parking the cars should be informed beforehand. That way they can choose to park themselves and make their own way to the terminal building if they don't want their car searched.
This is the problem with more and more property being private and subject to conditions. On true public ground things like the 4th amendment matter. On private property, you're subject to the whims of the owners.
This country is out of control. We have no more 4th amendment. Pretty soon the TSA will be expanding their highway searches from commercial trucks to every passenger car. Your freedom is gone. That being said, I would never trust my car to a valet. I park it myself. You are just asking for trouble otherwise.
According to the article, the valets themselves. Mot TSA agents, minimum wage, no-background-check valets. They're the last people to be in the car, and they decide where to park them. Anyone else see the two glaring problems here?
oh, so the poor valet schmuck who finds a bomb, and it gets detonated, is the one who will suffer loss of limbs and/or life? I'd hate to be paid minimum wage doing two jobs - one of them being a bomb detector.
They'd probably like to be able to search any car that comes to the airport. Even so, I imagine they restrict searches to valet parked cars for two reasons: 1) they've the keys in hand and so it's easy; 2) more importantly, some lawyer probably told them that they could make the case in court that valet parked cars have no reasonable expectation of privacy.
This whole operation falls apart at the words "TSA Regulations." There's no acceptable justification for routine searches of these cars under the fourth amendment. They're not getting on the planes, therefore the (already questionable) reasoning being used to have passengers searched doesn't apply here at all.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
All this does is give the TSA a new place from which to steal. Don't leave anything of value in your car; it may (probably) won't be there when you get back. Without a crowd watching them, the agents will be even more tempted to take what isn't theirs.
Am I the only one who think it odd that the TSA is looking for terrorists that.. use Valet parking?
Don't take your car to the airport unless a family member or good friend drives it home for you. Other option is just take a cab.
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
Well if they're turning a valet parking invitation into a free inspection, there's also nothing stopping you from putting these 100dB contact-break alarms on basically everything including the trunk, glove compartment, etc. Let's see how mister TSA wanna-be likes his job when he gets 100 decibels in his face any time he touches anything but the steering wheel.
I live in an apartment and it has one of those pathetically insecure chicken wire cages upstairs for additional storage. A $1 wire clipper and you can steal everyone's stuff so I put 4 of those contact break alarms under a cardboard box containing my stuff. Then I drew an arrow and "do not move or touch - pressure-sensitive alarm will sound" and that's the last thing anyone will steal. It'd work just as well for car searches except put the alarm on the inside so instead of a deterrent, it's a punishment of sorts.
Not to mention that it's not even the TSA doing the searches. It's the valets. At least we can require TSA agents to have some general knowledge of what they're looking for and have some oversight to prevent this from being a "Grab Anything Valuable In The Trunk" program. I'd have less trust that valets would have that training/oversight. (And my trust of TSA agents is pretty low to begin with.)
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
If I had a bomb or other nefarious contraband in my car and wanted to do harm at an airport, why the hell would I valet the car? This is one more example of TSA and other nation security state powers being used for infringing on the rights of people. I mean really...
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
Having never let a valet park my car, I never realized it was customary to tip the valet. But now knowing that it is, wouldn't you tip them when they bring your car back? Tipping when you drop the car off, to me, seems like it'd be like tipping your waiter/waitress when they seat you.
"I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
The TSA is not involved in the Rochester airport. Little known fact, but airports are allowed to hire private security companies to do the passenger screening again as long as they follow TSA guidelines.
Bomb sniffing dogs are expensive and can't be worked too hard.
Valet drivers on the other hand...
BlameBillCosby.com
We are really asking valets guys to "inspect" a car?
For at least the last 5 years that I've been flying in and out of PHX, and as you drive through the airport thru fare, there's a posted sign every quarter mile that clearly states "Your vehicle is subject to search."
So if I decided to valet my vehicle and I have handed over my keys and property, I would fully expect them to take advantage of the sign. If they don't have my keys, they're not going to break into my vehicle unless it has triggered some sort of detection device. Valet vehicles are parked in high traffic areas if they're only around for a short time or if the valets are busy, think about the damage that could be done with an explosive.
It's seriously as simple as that... Last thing I want to do is advocate for the TSA, but c'mon, these signs have been posted for years.
of course, could be lying http://reason.com/blog/2013/07/18/it-wasnt-us-tsa-says-of-car-searches-at
oh but haven't they already taken the right to inspect whatever they want near enough the border?
there's an imaginary border in every city with an international airport. so coming up: tsa declaring those cities special areas where they can inspect anything anywhere anytime - they'll call it their triple A protection system.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Seems to be how weapons laws go. It is rare to find a country with gun laws that are entirely sensible. I think part of the reason is that when restrictions are enacted, they are often written by people who hate guns and thus know very little about them. They then never trouble themselves to consult with their military or the like to get some information. So, you get a silly law.
No one here is bothered the search is conducted by a non law enforcement personal? Ya there needs to be a warrant for every search and it should be done by law enforcement not a car parking attendant.
Jack of all trades,master of none
On my car (2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5i SE, USDM) it actually does. There's a keyhole by the trunk-release lever that can be toggled with the "master" key but not the valet key. It will lock out the lever and prevent the trunk from being opened.
There are keyholes by the rear-seatback-release buttons as well to prevent access to the trunk via folding the rear seats down.
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The net change in safety of searching for 'car bombs' after a vehicle has already entered a 'protected area' is effectively zero, and in a free society it is neither possible nor desirable to protect everything that could possibly be attacked at all costs.
Or are you advocating a search of all of the vehicles prior to arrival in the area they're trying to 'protect', at a hardened entry-point that would prevent a sufficiently-motivated driver from bypassing the search by driving around/through? Maybe we should place these entry points on every highway, and in front of every building, just in case some terrorists have a car bomb!
This is just another pretext for expanding 'security creep' into ever more arbitrary realms of American society to enrich the security-industrial complex and widen the influence of the security state and its minions.
Iacuzza rhymes with Yakuza. That's too obvious a connection for the TSA to ignore.
“I was furious. They never mentioned it to me when I booked the valet or when I picked up the car or when I dropped it off.”
Most people don't read signs. It worked at a festival and that had a camping area. There was a rule that no glass was allowed in the camping area as it was an athletic field. Many times when I told people to put away the glass they replied that no one told them glass was not allowed. This was even though the following had been done to inform them;
1. It was in the release they signed.
2. It was in 4 in high letters within 5 feet of the venue entrance.
3. It was in 4 in high letters within 2 feet of the camping entrance
4. It was in 1 inch high letters on a 2'x4' placard, that displayed all the rules, next to the camping entrance
The sign was probably up there but she just didn't read it. This "they didn't tell me" excuse is more indication of the lack of personal responsibility. Inform yourself, read signs, look things up, stop making excuses.
The searches are concerned with bombs. Any adult would be suspicious about a bunch of sticks with the explosive has-mat logo on it or a bunch of drums with wires running out of them. I bet the valets are told to contact security if they find something suspicious. It does not take training to do that. Is it perfect? No. Might it be helpful? Yes. Might it help stave of the claim that the TSA failed to use every available asset to protect airport security? Definitely. I can just see the headline;
TSA fails again to secure airports as massive bomb explodes in valet parking.
Is that: "Iacuzza said she doesn't mind the security measure. She just wants to be told if her car is getting searched." Somehow knowing that it happens make her ok with it. After all, she doesn't have anything to hide. She's is consenting to continued violations of the 4th Amendments because she's bought a season pass to the security theater.
Just like mccarthyism dying, it took people a while to wake up that hunting communists would eventually mean them too. Hopefully, with the nsa spying story we have turned the corner and can start to dismantle the tsa.