Respect? Please. You think cops don’t catch flak from the public? I’ll put down a ten-spot that says your average big city beat cop would gladly trade his daily dose of fisticuffs and bodily fluids over your average Screener’s diet of dirty looks and snide comments.
Dressing up as a cop doesn’t make you a cop, just like wearing a badge doesn’t make you Sgt Angel. Abuses? Sure, but its not like this doesn’t happen now. Are Screeners enforcing the law? To an extent yes, but then under the proper circumstances so is a flight attendant, so do they get B&Cs too?
I think this is a bad idea not because I think Screeners don’t deserve respect; I’m against it because its “cop-creep.” If this is a job that doesn’t merit being sworn - or even being “inherently governmental” - then you should figure out a more appropriate way to dress and equip the people who do the job. If I remember right, back when private screeners were the norm, they wore a soft uniform. Its not like a hard uniform increases effectiveness.
Comments (3)
The more defensive the TSA gets about their legitimacy the harder their uniforms become.
In the real world the client decides whether the security officers will look like cops or suits or Home Depot sales help, based on the strategic communication/influence operation statement the client wants to make to the public. Private security providers offer the hard look to enhance public compliance and reduce argument by fooling the majority into believing “shirt wearers” actually do have real authority and actually can force compliance upon them. The more the security officer looks like somebody who can whack you with a baton or taze you or shoot you the more likely you are to comply.
The TSA never should have been created. American and United should have been sued into oblivion to encourage the other airlines to get their security act together and compete on making screening as efficient as it has to be to mitigate their risk and as painless as possible to their customers.
Posted by Cannoneer No4![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://haftofthespear.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 18, 2008 11:25 PM
Posted on June 18, 2008 23:25
Mark Twain said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”
Posted by Younghusband![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://haftofthespear.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 20, 2008 10:36 AM
Posted on June 20, 2008 10:36
I’ll confess that checking out the new shirts and badges at National this week, they do look a lot more authoritative than the old mall guard outfits of old. Not all airports have them though, if MKE and MSP are any indication. No one who travels with any frequency is going to mistake a screener for a cop, but they do go a long way in conveying that getting uppity isn’t going to achieve much … which reminds me, pushy old br0ad with the 10 lbs of jewelry, oversized carry ons, etc., etc. no, actually, its NOT TSA’s fault you’re late to the gate and no we don’t want to hear about it, moron.
Posted by Michael Tanji![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://haftofthespear.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 20, 2008 2:29 PM
Posted on June 20, 2008 14:29