TSA Creates List Of Unruly Passengers So Staff Know They Are Coming

Federal officials have created a secret watch list of passengers who have assaulted staff at airport checkpoints or tried to skip through security so airports can prepare for their arrival.
The list was created by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in February after an 'alarming spike' in assaults on staff involved in security screening at airports.
Although being on the list is not in itself enough to get a passenger barred from flying, it has prompted civil liberties concerns from critics who say the criteria for inclusion are too unclear. 
The list was created by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in February after an 'alarming spike' in assaults on staff involved in security screening at airports. File photo
The existence of the list was first revealed by the [ ], which reported that loitering by a checkpoint or simply swatting away the hand of a member of staff during a search was enough to be included. 
The newspaper quoted a line from a five-page directive on the list which stated: 'An intent to injure or cause physical pain is not required, nor is an actual physical injury.' 
This led to the critics suggesting that flyers could be included on the list simply for behaving in a grumpy or mildly anti-social way.
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But the TSA denies this, saying flyers will only be listed if their behavior was serious enough to prompt a call to police or a report to headquarters. The list currently includes fewer than 50 people.
'In most cases this is someone where there was assaultive behavior or someone tried to circumvent security screening,' Executive Assistant Administrator for Security Operations Darby LaJoye told [ ]. 
The agency reported that in the fiscal year 2017 there were more than 34 assaults on transportation security officials.
'In most cases this is someone where there was assaultive behavior or someone tried to circumvent security screening,' Executive Assistant Administrator for Security Operations Darby LaJoye (pic) said
LaJoyce was grilled by the Transportation and Protective Services Subcommittee about the list on Thursday, the first time it had ever been discussed publicly. 
'I am concerned about the civil liberty implications of such a list,' Representative Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said. 
But LaJoyce insisted the database was solely meant to act as a warning to officers that they were dealing with passengers who had assaulted their co-workers in the past.
The names on the list are reviewed on a monthly basis, according to the TSA, although passengers are not informed of their inclusion or https://www.reddit.com/user/blogtraveldiscounts/comments/fp6s4n/a_brief_history_of_miami_international_airport/ given a chance to appeal. 
TSA said it is 'committed to its people and wants to ensure there are safeguards in place to protect Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) and others from any individual who has previously exhibited disruptive or assaultive behavior at a screening checkpoint and is scheduled to fly.'
Several other federal agencies already keep watch lists of people who have exhibited suspicious or threatening behavior.
This includes the Secret Service, which keeps the names of people who pose a potential threat to government officials or buildings.  




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Read more:

[ TSA prepares for busy summer with 1,600 more officers, 50 more dogs]
[ Watch List Shields T.S.A. Screeners From Threatening, and Unruly, Travelers - The New York Times]



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