Screening of Passengers at Savannah Amtrak Station (TSA search upon LEAVING train)

The TSA Blog ^ | February 26, 2011 | Blogger Bob

[CedarDave]

A video of Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) screening passengers at a Savannah, Georgia Amtrak station has been gaining quite a bit of attention and many are wondering why we were screening passengers who had just disembarked from a train.

We were wondering the same thing.

The screening shown in the video was done in conjunction with a VIPR operation. During VIPR operations, any person entering the impacted area has to be screened. In this case, the Amtrak station was the subject of the VIPR operation so people entering the station were being screened for items on the Amtrak prohibited items list as seen in the video.

It should be noted that disembarking passengers did not need to enter the station to claim luggage or get to their car.

Signs such as the one shown here are posted at the entrance to the impacted area.

However, after looking into it further, we learned that this particular VIPR operation should have ended by the time these folks were coming through the station since no more trains were leaving the station. We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused for those passengers.

[CedarDave]

Video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1B3AubsTBo

Be sure to read the comments -- such as this one:

Did you read the original account ?

I'll refresh your memory:

"The only bad thing on our trip was TSA was at the Savannah train station. There were about 14 agents pulling people inside the building and coralling everyone in a roped area AFTER you got OFF THE TRAIN!".

So people did not "need" to enter the station, but your agents apparently forced ("pulled") them to.

We are familiar with your self-serving explanations[sic] of these foolish incidents, but this is even more vacuous than usual. C'mon, who's lying about what really happened ? I know who I believe.

[CedarDave]

By the way, the acronym “VIPR” stands for “Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response.”

Typical governmental acronym creation.

[Diogenesis]

It is not about safety.
It is about power.

hint:
Last seen in Germany before the exterminations.

[CedarDave]

Several FR threads from last week described the search and TSA actions:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2679026/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2679443/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2679574/posts

[bgill]

Brown bootin’ it just because they can. Coming soon to a suburban neighborhood near you.

[vg0va3]

So, what do we do about it?

Both the dems and repubs want the TSA so they can say we are protecting you.

We can complain on blogs or we can let our legislators know we want the TSA to go away.

[Lazamataz]

From the Amtrak website (excerpted): "The following kinds of items are prohibited as both checked and carry-on baggage: .....* Fragile and/or valuable items (including but not limited to electronic equipment).

So, legally, the TSA could seize jewelry, laptops, cell phones, wedding bands, gold fillings in your teeth, pacemakers, any cash....

After all, the TSA was enforcing prohibited items. Amtrak forbids "Fragile and/*OR* valuable items". Everything I mentioned is fragile or valuable.

A long time ago, we became the Soviet States of America, but nobody announced the name change.

[razorback-bert]

From the Amtrak site in the post:

“The following kinds of items are prohibited as both checked and carry-on baggage:
...
Fragile and/or valuable items (including but not limited to electronic equipment).”

Who wants to take a train anywhere, if you can’t take your camera and/or laptop?

[razorback-bert]

The Behavior Detection Officer (BDO) program utilizes non-intrusive behavior observation and analysis techniques to identify potentially high-risk passengers. BDOs are designed to detect individuals exhibiting behaviors that indicate they may be a threat to aviation and/or transportation security. The program is a derivative of other successful behavioral analysis programs that have been employed by law enforcement and security personnel both in the U.S. and around the world. BDOs add an element of unpredictability to the security screening process that is easy for passengers to navigate but difficult for terrorists to manipulate. It serves as an important additional layer of security in the airport environment, requires no additional specialized screening equipment, can easily be deployed to other modes of transportation and presents yet one more challenge the terrorists need to overcome in attempt to defeat our security system.

[vg0va3]

How about we demand the repeal of the TSA

[King_Corey]

Try asking for a warrant. Ask if they are detaining you. If they are doing neither then walk away. If they say they are detaining you ask for a lawyer and stop speaking to them except to ask if you are now free to go.

Stand up to them.

http://kingcorey.com/2008/12/dont-talk-to-police-ever-ever-ever-ever-ever/

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

I read flyertalk.com from time to time.....it’s a web site for frequent flyers.

Under their Travel and Security section, I’ve seen message threads about people being screened AFTER their plane landed. These screenings included people who had reached their destinations and were trying to leave the terminal....they did NOT have connecting flights.

I saw these particular message threads two or three years ago. Everyone on the threads were outraged.

[Conan the Librarian]

I would think that they are screening people coming off the train to keep them from bringing their foreign food from infecting the restaurants we have here in Savannah.

‘We don’t want your Yankee food here!’

All we need is Paula Deen and a truckload of butter and we are all set.

[Joe Boucher]

Hello CedarDave,
Sooo if you get OFF a train, plane, bus, or cab you’ve been on and some clowns tell you you WILL go through this crap and you tell them to get bent, are they going to arrest you?