WTF?!!?? Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques

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http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1195330,00.html

Here's how it works: Select TSA employees will be trained to identify suspicious individuals who raise red flags by exhibiting unusual or anxious behavior, which can be as simple as changes in mannerisms, excessive sweating on a cool day, or changes in the pitch of a person's voice.

I do not look nervous.
I do not look nervous.
I do not look nervous.
I do not look nervous.

― scnnr drkly (scnnr drkly), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:23 (nineteen years ago)

common el al practice since, like, forever.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:25 (nineteen years ago)

i mean, aside from the racial stuff.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:25 (nineteen years ago)

How about being excessively cool on a sweaty day?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:25 (nineteen years ago)

Racial or ethnic factors are not a criterion for singling out people, TSA officials say.

thank goodness.

― sleep (sleep), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:26 (nineteen years ago)

Ned - red flag for sure.

We should make a list of all such unnatural appearances for TSA.

― scnnr drkly (scnnr drkly), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:30 (nineteen years ago)

http://static.flickr.com/1/771520_ec051da559_m.jpg

"Now if that's a fact, am I lying? 'Cause you're part eggplant."

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 19:44 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, this is very sensible -- common-sensible, even, as it's probably the way any given one of us would go about this task if we were suddenly thrown into it. There are pretty good/accurate profiles availble (mostly from the Israelis, I'm sure) of behaviors that go with suicide bombing, obvious stuff like a person who seems to be repeating prayers under his breath; these are good things to be trained to spot. The logic's pretty simple: that "about to commit suicide bombing" is a really specific and major emotional state, and that people in that state will behave in certain identifiable ways, or even do certain ritual-type things a good eye could be trained to notice.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 20:23 (nineteen years ago)

The guy muttering "I can't believe I'm about to blow up an airplane!" under his breath while standing in the security line deserves a cavity search regardless of whether he's joking or not.

― Dan (Note To Self: Allow 3 Hours Before All Future Flights) Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 20:30 (nineteen years ago)

OH GOD, ANOTHER MUSLIM IS USING THE BATHROOM. HE'S PURIFYING HIMSELF!

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 20:32 (nineteen years ago)

Don't bad people who are interested in passing security read about those profiles and specific details too? I would imagine they do some sort of training to look normal. On the other hand you get whole bunch of folks who look nervous _exactly_ because they're afraid they might look nervous.

― scnnr drkly (scnnr drkly), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 20:38 (nineteen years ago)

It's not a simple matter of "nervous," I don't think -- I mean, the Israelis have whole systems of science (SCIENCE!) wrapped around this kind of question. Which, yeah, I'm sure terrorists do their best to keep up with and skirt around, but that's par for the course with any law-enforcement technique, anywhere.

I'm not saying this is some brilliant new plan, or anything -- just that it makes sense to try and isolate behaviors that match up with terrorism and factor that knowledge into your security. And practiced correctly this is way different from just giving guards leeway to decide who looks "nervous" -- ideally it's practically a scientific-method thing of identifying specific behaviors.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 20:53 (nineteen years ago)

Jeesus.... I'm not even particularly religious but I'm so phobic of flying I sweat excessively and mutter prayers under my breath. Am I gonna be arrested next time I fly? Just another reason not to get on a plane, then.

― The Minimal Criminal (kate), Thursday, 25 May 2006 08:16 (nineteen years ago)

Am I gonna be arrested next time I fly?
even more so now you know they're watching!

― not-goodwin (not-goodwin), Thursday, 25 May 2006 08:37 (nineteen years ago)

Note to America in general: the next 9/11 bombers will be smartly dressed, immaculately behaved, will be cool, calm and collected and will not sweat as they board the 'plane. Just as they were on 9/11.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 25 May 2006 08:39 (nineteen years ago)

ideally it's practically a scientific-method thing of identifying specific behaviors.

"ideally", "practically"... even if you manage to identify specific behaviours I'm highly sceptical of these behaviours correlating in any statistically significant way with your target erm demographic.

There was that French guy arrested last year at Southwark tube station, essentially for wearing a rucksack and not looking at the policemen at the entrance... I always feels suspicious around authority figures, and never look at policemen!

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 25 May 2006 08:41 (nineteen years ago)

Just as they were on 9/11.

Is there evidence for this?

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 25 May 2006 08:43 (nineteen years ago)

The way the Israeli security people work is that by the time a passenger gets on a plane they will have had conversations with several people, had all their bags x-rayed in front of them and probably had their hand luggage sifted by hand. They're pretty thorough and they know people are nervous of flying. They just want to make sure your story checks out and they tailor it to the person. Like if someone looks like a religious Jew, they'll ask detailed questions about that week's Torah reading or somesuch.

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 25 May 2006 08:48 (nineteen years ago)

Well that would certainly discourage people from flying, which is an admirable goal if we want to reduce global warming.

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 25 May 2006 08:59 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, let's just go back into the cave and have done with it.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 25 May 2006 09:00 (nineteen years ago)

Hey, The typical hunter-gatherer works a 20 hour week...

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 25 May 2006 09:07 (nineteen years ago)

We'll cut that in half with this pesky new-fangled wheel device...

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 25 May 2006 09:08 (nineteen years ago)

I'm going to start work on a horseless carriage forthwith.

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 25 May 2006 09:55 (nineteen years ago)

changes in the pitch of a person's voice.

You're the funny little frog in my throat
My eye sight's fading, my hearing's dim
I can't get insured for the state I'm in
I'm a danger to myself I've been starting fights

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 25 May 2006 10:11 (nineteen years ago)

Stuart and I share a birthday, I discovered yesterday.

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 25 May 2006 10:14 (nineteen years ago)

The other day I was on the tube and a muslim gentleman moved from his seat at one end of the carriage to my end. He was carrying a phial of clear liquid, and after a couple of minutes started speaking to himself in a foreign monotone. I got off the train at the next stop and moved two carriages further up. Am I a paranoid racist?

― Crimea River (Mark C), Thursday, 25 May 2006 10:17 (nineteen years ago)

I must admit, the phial and the muttering'd make me nervous.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 25 May 2006 10:43 (nineteen years ago)

obvious stuff like a person who seems to be repeating prayers under his breath

certainly this is correct, but at the same time, knowing it has changed my flying experience for the word - I pray on japa beads, chanting the mahamantra over & over again, and used to enjoy doing so quietly on airplanes back when I was trying to say several rounds a day. In both Hinduism and Buddhism there's a tradition of praying repetetive prayers on beads (what to speak of the rosary), one which often comes with a very high recommended # of repetitions per day, the idea being to have your mind always, always, always remembering God.

I think I've pulled out my beads maybe twice on planes since 9/11...I don't really have a point here except maybe "it sucks to have joined the rest of the world in having to worry about shit"

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 25 May 2006 11:45 (nineteen years ago)

"for the worst" in line one, sorry

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 25 May 2006 11:46 (nineteen years ago)

This policy would be far better adopted on south London buses.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 25 May 2006 11:48 (nineteen years ago)

Well I'm never carrying my urine sample on the tube again

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 25 May 2006 11:59 (nineteen years ago)

I'd recommend you stop filling it en route as well.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 25 May 2006 12:02 (nineteen years ago)

What, I should just wet myself instead? What the hell is wrong with you

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 25 May 2006 12:08 (nineteen years ago)

He was carrying a phial of clear liquid, and after a couple of minutes started speaking to himself in a foreign monotone.

"A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon sí di-nguruthos! A tiro nin, Fanuilos!"

― scnnr drkly (scnnr drkly), Thursday, 25 May 2006 14:12 (nineteen years ago)

My using words like "ideally" and "practically" were meant to denote that no matter how skeptical we want to be about current techniques, there is in theory no good reason not to try to identify bomber behaviors and factor awareness of those behaviors into your security.

(Marcello is apparently trying to help out by offering his own behavioral profile: "smartly dressed, immaculately behaved, cool, calm, and collected.") (Ha, what with that "immaculately behaved" bit this describes like 2% of American airline passengers.)

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 25 May 2006 17:37 (nineteen years ago)

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