New Procedure Allows Palms-Down Searches

TSA is testing a new search procedure at Boston's Logan International airport, as well as Las Vegas-McCarran, in which a palms-down frisking technique is replacing the former "back of the hands" search. And one civil rights group has already raised questions about the the practice.

Until now, if a passenger requested a hand search rather than a full-body scan, or was selected for additional screening, the TSA agents used a frisking technique that used the back of their hands rather than the palms over "sensitive areas." “TSA is in the process of implementing an enhanced patdown at security checkpoints as one of our many layers of security,” Ann Davis, TSA spokeswoman for the Northeast region, told the Boston Herald. “Patdowns are designed to address potentially dangerous items, like improvised explosive devices and their components, concealed on the body.”

The two airports were selected because they employ the greatest number of full-body scanners. The pat-down searches are used on passengers who either refuse the electronic scan, or on whom something is noticed that is not discernible on the scan. The searches are also used on passengers if there is no full-body scanner and they cause the metal detector to alert,or they are randomly selected for additional screening.

The pat-down searches are done by TSA personnel of the same gender as the passenger, and can be done in private if the passenger requests that. Still, a spokesman for the Massachusetts ACLU said the group is concerned about what he called a continuing erosion of privacy, as well as the effectiveness of the searches, but at least one passenger told the paper it was part of the price of security on flights.

If TSA determines that the palms-down frisking is effective, it will be rolled out at airports nationwide.

FMI: www.tsa.gov, www.aclu.org