September 10th Mentality From The Professionals In Charge
Oh, I am sure our readers are going to love this one ...
Houston police and the federal Transportation Security Administration disagree over who is responsible for allowing a man with what appeared to be bomb components board an aircraft at Hobby Airport last week.
Although the FBI eventually cleared the man of wrongdoing, police officials have transferred the officer involved and are investigating the incident while insisting that the TSA, not police, has the authority to keep a suspicious person from boarding a flight.
"Our job is not to be the gatekeepers," police Capt. Dwayne Ready said. "That burden falls squarely on the airline and TSA to make that final decision.
"We are looking at our role in the situation to make sure our policies were adhered to," he said. "During follow-up, we are finding that there simply was not a material threat." ...
... McCauley and Ready would not comment about the June 26 incident, but a confidential TSA report obtained by the Houston Chronicle details a dispute between screeners and a police officer on duty at the airport.
The report states that a man with a Middle Eastern name and a ticket for a Delta Airlines flight to Atlanta shook his head when screeners asked if he had a laptop computer in his baggage, but an X-ray machine operator detected a laptop.
A search of the man's baggage revealed a clock with a 9-volt battery taped to it and a copy of the Quran, the report said. A screener examined the man's shoes and determined that the "entire soles of both shoes were gutted out."
No explosive material was detected, the report states. A police officer was summoned and questioned the man, examined his identification, shoes and the clock, then cleared him for travel, according to the report.
A TSA screener disagreed with the officer, saying "the shoes had been tampered with and there were all the components of (a bomb) except the explosive itself," the report says.
The officer retorted, "I thought y'all were trained in this stuff," TSA officials reported.
The report says the TSA screener notified Delta Airlines and talked again with the officer, who said he had been unable to check the passenger's criminal background because of computer problems.
This sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but it is not. It is September 10th mentality at its worst. And while nothing happened on the flight, there was enough cause that should have delayed this man's entry onto any plane. But the system failed. Ultimately, this lies at the feet of the TSA. Thank God Norm Minetta is leaving there soon. While the administration may be happy with the service this man gave to the administration, the nation knows how much of a Clouseau this man really was.
And we are not the only ones who took notice of this little story. Captain Ed Morrissey and Michelle Malkin are following the story as well. And both are clearly unhappy with this turn of events. The nation should be unhappy with this incident in Houston. Law enforcement has been trained how to handle situations like this, and their failure this time could have been costly. Do these people need a little plaque on the wall reminding them of the stakes we play this game at?
Our enemy only has to be right once. We have to be right 100% of the time.
He should not have been allowed on that plane until he checked out. The way this was handled was utterly ridiculous. And the first phone call made should have been tot he TSA and DHS asking if they were sending any "plants" through Houston's airport. That is what this sounds like, but there is nothing in the report that acknowledges that.
Either way you look at it, these guys dropped the ball, and possibly when it would have mattered the most. Either it is time to give these guys a refresher course, or start firing the incompetent ones regardless of what the Left thinks. They may want to protect the jobs of these people. But there is a higher calling involved in a job such as this.
It is called protecting the nation, and the Left might to try it out. Just once.
Marcie
ADDENDUM:
In addition to Michelle and Ed being on this subject, Little Green Footballs weighs in, as does Right Wing News.
Oh, I am sure our readers are going to love this one ...
Houston police and the federal Transportation Security Administration disagree over who is responsible for allowing a man with what appeared to be bomb components board an aircraft at Hobby Airport last week.
Although the FBI eventually cleared the man of wrongdoing, police officials have transferred the officer involved and are investigating the incident while insisting that the TSA, not police, has the authority to keep a suspicious person from boarding a flight.
"Our job is not to be the gatekeepers," police Capt. Dwayne Ready said. "That burden falls squarely on the airline and TSA to make that final decision.
"We are looking at our role in the situation to make sure our policies were adhered to," he said. "During follow-up, we are finding that there simply was not a material threat." ...
... McCauley and Ready would not comment about the June 26 incident, but a confidential TSA report obtained by the Houston Chronicle details a dispute between screeners and a police officer on duty at the airport.
The report states that a man with a Middle Eastern name and a ticket for a Delta Airlines flight to Atlanta shook his head when screeners asked if he had a laptop computer in his baggage, but an X-ray machine operator detected a laptop.
A search of the man's baggage revealed a clock with a 9-volt battery taped to it and a copy of the Quran, the report said. A screener examined the man's shoes and determined that the "entire soles of both shoes were gutted out."
No explosive material was detected, the report states. A police officer was summoned and questioned the man, examined his identification, shoes and the clock, then cleared him for travel, according to the report.
A TSA screener disagreed with the officer, saying "the shoes had been tampered with and there were all the components of (a bomb) except the explosive itself," the report says.
The officer retorted, "I thought y'all were trained in this stuff," TSA officials reported.
The report says the TSA screener notified Delta Airlines and talked again with the officer, who said he had been unable to check the passenger's criminal background because of computer problems.
This sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but it is not. It is September 10th mentality at its worst. And while nothing happened on the flight, there was enough cause that should have delayed this man's entry onto any plane. But the system failed. Ultimately, this lies at the feet of the TSA. Thank God Norm Minetta is leaving there soon. While the administration may be happy with the service this man gave to the administration, the nation knows how much of a Clouseau this man really was.
And we are not the only ones who took notice of this little story. Captain Ed Morrissey and Michelle Malkin are following the story as well. And both are clearly unhappy with this turn of events. The nation should be unhappy with this incident in Houston. Law enforcement has been trained how to handle situations like this, and their failure this time could have been costly. Do these people need a little plaque on the wall reminding them of the stakes we play this game at?
Our enemy only has to be right once. We have to be right 100% of the time.
He should not have been allowed on that plane until he checked out. The way this was handled was utterly ridiculous. And the first phone call made should have been tot he TSA and DHS asking if they were sending any "plants" through Houston's airport. That is what this sounds like, but there is nothing in the report that acknowledges that.
Either way you look at it, these guys dropped the ball, and possibly when it would have mattered the most. Either it is time to give these guys a refresher course, or start firing the incompetent ones regardless of what the Left thinks. They may want to protect the jobs of these people. But there is a higher calling involved in a job such as this.
It is called protecting the nation, and the Left might to try it out. Just once.
Marcie
ADDENDUM:
In addition to Michelle and Ed being on this subject, Little Green Footballs weighs in, as does Right Wing News.
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 10:43 AM
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