Reading in the Chicago Tribune today about the full body scanner the government will soon have in place at O'Hare to check travelers more completely for hidden weapons and/or explosives. Fully body scanner. Wow. Sounds like something out of Star Trek, doesn't it?
The writer describes the machine's function as providing a "virtual strip-search," of passengers, though he says the face of the person being scanned will not be visible, nor will the images be retained in the system. From what I can tell, the machine is designed to detect weapons and explosives hidden in body cavities or elsewhere difficult to search by other means. This machine, the article says, will update technology from the 1970's which is still in use.
The article indicates the scans won't be done in front of a leering audience of other travelers (which could actually be a welcome diversion for those waiting in the security line) but in a booth where only TSA personnel will be watching.
Illinois ACLU officials and a number of people interviewed at O'Hare and who posted their thoughts in the comments section fear the machine and call it an abridgement of their rights. They apparently don't like the idea of being naked in front of strangers.
Okay, let's see if I have this straight.
The idea is to update equipment that's been outdated for thirty years and, thus, keep airline travel safer. Presumably the body scans will also speed up passage through the screening procedure for at least some travelers.
The downside is that some folks will be embarrassed to have others see their flabby bellies and butts and . . . so forth. Yet, TSA says the old fashioned frisk will still be available for those who are afraid the screeners might guffaw at their virtual image (and perhaps illicitly save the images for trading . . . like baseball cards).
And the alternative might be . . .what?
Without the machine, someday, somewhere, the highly trained expert security specialists of the TSA might miss an explosive device that an immodest terrorist has hidden, shall we say, where the sun don't shine. Which then would result in an explosion and all those body parts people want to hide being strewn all over the landscape for hapless evidence collectors to dig out of trees and the sides of houses and so forth, leaving the ones the CSI's miss for animals to gnaw on.
Hmmm. Which would I prefer to encounter in my travels?
A screener who, after the first half-dozen scans will care less if the flier has a double-D cup, is built like John Holmes or had surgery two weeks ago?
Or continued reliance on outmoded equipment that could allow The Bad People to blow my equipment and everyone else's into chunks of fish food?
All I can say is this. A couple of years ago, I bought one of those spy coats with fifty hidden pockets, some of them large enough to store a big screen TV and my entire Pez collection. I figured it would be great for those last minute items I always forget when I'm packing a suitcase. The problem is, some of those pockets are so well hidden that I've lost valuable stuff.
I think this new machine may be a Godsend for me.
4 comments:
I guess the logical would be, how much safer would you like airline travel to be? We are slowly building security systems to take into consideration one in ten billion chances. Has anyone ever tried to carry an explosive onto a plane in their toches? (Not counting the time I foolishly stopped at Burger King on my way to the airport for a transcontinental flight.) One guy tried to blow up his shoe--unsuccessfully--and now everyone has to take off their shoes before getting on a plane. (Other countries' security folks make fun of Americans who automatically take off their shoes for scanning; no one else does that.)
We waive hard earned rights in this country like they were junk mail coupons. I'm not saying TSA shouldn't get the new scanners; I'm saying I would liked to have seen a demonstrated need for them first. (A study, not an explosion.) I can't help but wonder if the money spent on these gadgets could have been better spent on the emergency radios and response gear the federal government promised NYPD and FDNY seven years ago, that they're still waiting on.
Congrats on all the great publicity for your mystery novel.
Fellow Five Star/Gale writer,
Jacqueline Seewald
THE INFERNO COLLECTION
large print edition from Wheeler
Sept.
Thanks guys!
Jacqueline...have you noticed how quickly the online book sites "run out" of copies of our books?
Actually this machine has been in use at O"Hare for years. The airlines used it prior to the feds taking over airport security. To my knowledge, it has never stopped being used, even during the transition, which was completed years ago. I don't know why the government is acting as though this is new. It has been used when someone did not want to consent to a strip search. For example, there are some religions that forbid removal of head coverings.
It does indeed show someone as though they were naked and is much more graphic than what is seen during a strip search. My friends in Security at one of the major airlines told me that they were reluctant to use it for that very reason. Most people do not look good naked and they were not too keen on seeing it.
I am not so sure about your comment to the effect that after a while the scanner operator will get over the novelty and not see it as any big deal. This is true for the people who fall in the "normal" range of physical appearance. I have worked in enough hospitals to know that the staff notices and comments on the unusual.
You can bet we all knew about the guy who came in for alcoholism treatment with the tattoo on his private parts or the psychotic, who even after a physical exam, it could not be determined what gender the patient was.
As much as we like to think those viewing us are "professionals', the fact is that it is human nature to notice the unusual and comment on it. So the supermodel and the 300 pound guy whose stomach hangs to his knees who are scanned are going to be discussed in detail by the scanning staff.
So Doug, keep up that exercise program so that you are not subjected to behind-the-scenes ridicule at O'Hare if you happened to be scanned. Either that or opt for the strip search.
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