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70 Laptops Got Left Behind At An Airport Security Checkpoint In One Month (bravotv.com)
America's Transportation Security Administration has been making some surprising announcements on social media. An anonymous reader writes:
A TSA spokesperson says 70 laptops were left behind in just one month at an airport security checkpoint in Newark. "And yes, there are plenty of shiny MacBooks in that pile," reported BravoTV, "which can cost in the $2,000 range new." The TSA shared an image of the 70 laptops on their Instagram page and on Twitter, prompting at least one mobile project designer to reclaim his laptop. "The most common way laptops are forgotten is when traveler's stack a bin on top of the bin their laptop is in," the TSA warns. "Out of sight out of mind."
The TSA is also sharing pictures on social media of the 70 guns they confiscated at security checkpoints in one week in November, reporting they've also confiscated a blowtorch, batarangs, and a replica of that baseball bat from "The Walking Dead". They're reporting they found 33 loaded firearms in carry-on luggage in one week, and remind readers that gun-carrying passengers "can face a penalty as high as $11,000. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home."
The TSA is also sharing pictures on social media of the 70 guns they confiscated at security checkpoints in one week in November, reporting they've also confiscated a blowtorch, batarangs, and a replica of that baseball bat from "The Walking Dead". They're reporting they found 33 loaded firearms in carry-on luggage in one week, and remind readers that gun-carrying passengers "can face a penalty as high as $11,000. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home."
But I have a hard time understanding how anybody could forget their laptop at a TSA checkpoint.
A lot of people experience anxiety and distraction when they're going through the security line. You're being led around like cattle and are subject to a bunch of random rules that could result in a pain and a bunch of delays (maybe worse) if you aren't careful to pay attention. Doing an extra check to make sure you have everything may not always be at the top of your list.
Just a few ways that immediately come to mind:
(1) You're getting on a 6am flight, so you're going through security at 5am and haven't had a cup of coffee yet because the TSA won't allow you to carry one. So you're just in a "haze."
(2) You have small children or are accompanying a person who can't take care of their own stuff for some reason, so you're juggling a huge number of bins and bags and trying not to forget anything, while also trying not to hold up the line.
(3) The TSA personnel distract you with some bogus extra search procedure that makes you feel uncomfortable... or they are overly brusque with you, which makes you a little paranoid (because they have the power to detain you). So you're distracted by this other stuff -- in ADDITION to having to deal with the indignities of putting back on your belt, shoes, packing up you little "baggie of liquids," etc. while people are crowding around trying to do the same.
Lots of other scenarios. I had a good friend (not at all an idiot or scatter-brained) who forgot his once, but luckily realized it when he got to his gate and went to do some work. He came back and retrieved it in time. I had another acquaintance who lost his and did NOT recover it.
I actually ended up adopting my own crude "reminder procedure" after hearing about these -- I commonly carry my laptop in some sort of sleeve in my bag anyway. I used to just reach in my bag and grab the laptop to put in the separate bin. Now I take the sleeve out of the bag and put it in the bin with my laptop bag (but outside of it), and my laptop obviously in a separate bin. I obviously will need to deal with the sleeve before I depart the TSA area. Just in case I'm distracted, I think there's a much lower chance that I'll just unthinkingly place my empty laptop sleeve back into my bag without realizing my laptop's missing. I doubt I'd forget my laptop, but I know how often it happens, so a little extra precaution doesn't hurt.
I'm always careful to grab mine, but with all the bullshit rules these days I have FOUR FUCKING BINS plus my bag to take through TSA.
It's complete fucking security theater. Stop requiring removal of all these devices that just slow down lines and lead to lost items. It's all bullshit.
If you travel much, pay the money ($100) and go through the process of getting your Global Entry card, which also gives you TSA Pre-check. It's well worth it for the hassle it saves. For a little less ($85) you can sign up for TSA Pre only, but if you ever leave the country the $15 extra for Global Entry will make re-entering the US much easier. I recommend Global Entry even if you just think you *might* travel internationally.
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I think the fact that they are actually catching a lot of stuff ... you know, the point of TFA ... proves the screening worthwhile. And they don't "sell" you a special line. You pay for the process of being vetted, and then they do minimal screening after that. It's kinda like getting the Sentry Pass at the border.
If it was about that, then they'd open those lines to anyone who had been vetted by the government already. They don't. The lines are open for those who pay.
Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (I use the TSA PreCheck program, which I paid for, but am not a US government employee with a security clearance). But I believe that if you've already been vetted by the US government in terms of a security clearance or a DoD ID then you don't need to pay for PreCheck, you can just use those lanes automatically. And the average US civilian/military security clearance investigation costs upwards of $50K.
Not to sound like a PreCheck fanboy, but if you fly more than a few times a year it is absolutely in your best interest to pay for PreCheck. Basically they look (from what I understand) to see if you're a felon, are on a no-fly watchlist, and/or have firearms related offenses or "I freaked out in the airport when they frisked me" issues. They take your fingerprints, too.
If you don't have any concerns with the above, then the $85 that PreCheck costs (for a five year term) is amortized over the cost of your time waiting in lines over five years in airport lines. I can't speak for every airport, but in Seattle the time differential between PreCheck and general boarding is often 45 minutes of waiting or more, as well as not having to take off my shoes, not having to take my laptop out of my bag, and generally being treated more like a human being than a Gitmo detainee.
You can make a cogent argument that none of the above is necessary and that it's all Security Theater. But you can't say that PreCheck is something for the one percenters when it averages out to $17/year. If you fly more than a couple times a year - and you value your time - then it's a no-brainer.
Do I believe that the government should prefer a "safe by default" rather than a "safe by exception" profile for its citizens? Yes, absolutely. There's no reason that an 85-year-old grandmother from Minnesota in a wheelchair should face a pat-down and the same security precautions as a 23-year-old Syrian national. I've flown to Israel multiple times (on El Al) and their security precautions (while undoubtedly invasive to anyone) are tailored to the perceived "risk profiles" of the passengers.The US should absolutely tailor its security procedures to risk profiles.
But the TL;DR version is that US security screening, for all its faults, isn't based on who can pay. It's based on an assumption (however faulty) that everyone is a potential terrorist, and that those who fly a lot can make an effort to show that they are less of a risk - at a very low cost when averaged over how often they fly.
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