Are The TSA Pat Downs Too Much?

Nothing feels better than arriving to the airport right before a fun spring break vacation. With your carry on bags in hand, you arrive to the security checkpoint. You get nervous because all the TSA agents are staring at you yelling a list of things you have to do before you go through the scans. None of them smile and they look at you like you are going to be the next terrorist. You load your bags on to the scanner and proceed to the walk through the metal detector. As you walk through, you hear the alarm go off and suddenly feel fear and confusion. You know you don’t have anything dangerous on you! “Man I forgot to take my belt off,” you say to yourself. The TSA agent looks at you with a stern look on his face and asks you to step aside. There another TSA agent greets you and explains to you that they are going to perform a pat down greets you.

Today, the TSA pat downs have caused quite a controversy. Passengers who are singled out to receive the pat down will have their whole body publicly searched. The new pat down procedure even requires the agent to feel around under the breasts and between the legs. People feel that the new pat down procedure is aggressive, embarrassing, and an invasion of one’s privacy.

There are man stories swirling around about various incidents that have occurred since the new procedure has been implemented. Fox news reported a story about a woman named Cathy Bossi, who ran into a violating experience while flying out of the Charlotte Douglass International Airport. Bossi is a three-year breast cancer survivor was forced to remover her prosthetic breast and show it to the TSA agents. Bossi opted out of the full body scan because she didn’t want the any added radiation to go through her body. Because she opted out, she was forced to partake in the full body pat down, which she described as “aggressive.” Bossi reports that the TSA agent halted the search as she came to her right breast, the breast where she had surgery. The TSA agent placed her full hand on the breast and asked firmly what it was. Bossi replied that it was her prosthetic breast because she was a cancer patient. The agent demanded to see it. Bossi was forced to remove the prosthetic breast or she would be unable to fly.

Stories like these have caused great controversy between the public and the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA responds by saying:

"TSA is in the process of implementing new pat-down procedures at checkpoints nationwide as one of our many layers of security to keep the traveling public safe. Pat-downs are one important tool to help TSA detect hidden and dangerous items such as explosives. Passengers should continue to expect an unpredictable mix of security layers that include explosives trace detection, advanced imaging technology, canine teams, among others."

Do you think the new pat downs are too much?