Oh, TSA.

[redheadbaker]

TSA apologizes for detaining 4-year-old girl in wheelchair

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KDVR) — The Transportation Security Administration is apologizing to a Missouri family after agents at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport detained a 4-year-old child confined to a wheelchair, took away her stuffed animal, and refused to allow her parents to film agents performing a body search.

“TSA regrets inaccurate guidance was provided to this family during screening and offers its apology,” a TSA spokesman told Fox News in response to a story about the Forck family’s ordeal.

The incident happened on Feb. 9 at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

Nathan Forck and his wife Annie, along with their three children were heading to Disney World for a family vacation. Lucy, their three-year-old, has Spina bifida and is confined to a wheelchair.

The family managed to make it through the TSA checkpoint without any problems. But as they prepared to walk to their gate, a TSA agent pulled aside Lucy for additional screening measures.

“They specifically told me that they were singling her out for this special treatment because she’s in a wheelchair,” he told Fox News. “They are specifically singling out disabled people for this special scrutiny. It’s rather offensive to me as a father of a disabled child.”

The agent said they needed to pat down Lucy and swab her wheelchair – even though both had already gone through the checkpoint.

“They treated her like a criminal,” said Forck. “And by extension they were treating us as criminals.”

Forck’s wife started filming the entire episode – over the objections of the TSA agent.

“You can’t do touch my daughter unless I record it,” she can be heard telling the agent.

The agent replied by telling the parents “It is illegal to do that.”

“The problem is, I don’t allow anyone to touch my little daughter,” Annie Forck said.

As TSA agents discussed what they were going to do, the video shows Lucy weeping uncontrollably.

“I don’t want to go Disney World,” she screamed as her parents tried to offer reassurances.

After 30 minutes, the Forck family was rescreened with the pat-down and they were allowed to continue on their trip.

The TSA told Fox News that the actions of their agents in St. Louis was inappropriate. Passengers are permitted to film TSA procedures at the checkpoint as long as it doesn’t interfere with the screening process.

And while the child ultimately did not receive a pat-down, the TSA said the family should never have been told it was going to occur.

“We are committed to maintaining the security of the traveling public and strive to treat all passengers with dignity and respect,” the TSA spokesperson told Fox News. “While no pat-down was performed, we will address specific concerns with our workforce.”

Forck said he understands that a certain level of security is needed at airports – but he believes what happened in St. Louis was not only inappropriate but may have been illegal.

“We are not unreasonable people,” he said. “But to say you are going to do a bodily search with no probable cause whatsoever – just because she is in a wheelchair – that was offensive.”

wtvr.com/2013/02/20/tsa-apologizes-for-detaining-4-year-old-girl-in-wheelchair/

[IIOY]

I'm sure those fuckfaces won't even be fired.

[secretlyevil]

I foresee this becoming a much larger issue in the near future. According to the parents, the CHILD was specifically targeted because she was disabled and in a wheelchair. This isn't going to go away quietly.

[kmpls]

This shit really pisses me off.

[UMaineTeach]

absolute power corrupts absolutely.

disgusting.

[SusanBAnthony]

Note to self: record any future tsa issues on phone.

[bugandbibs]

Feb 21, 2013 19:52:09 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Note to self: record any future tsa issues on phone.

Word.

[Deleted]

Butbut the parents consented to this when they purchased the ticket!!

[2curlydogs]

[Kristinmo]

And 8 pages here we go.

[redheadbaker]

Feb 22, 2013 16:42:36 GMT -5 pennypenny said:

4. They are told to tell people they cannot film security procedures.

That's not what a TSA spokesperson said after this incident was made public. 

From www.nydailynews.com/news/national/tsa-detains-wheelchair-bound-toddler-article-1.1269327

"A TSA spokesperson told Fox News that it’s okay to film TSA security checks as long as it doesn’t interfere with the screening process."

As for the rest . . . LOL

[meshaliuknits]

I've seen TSA training. It sucks. And I say that as someone who has spend the last 8 or so years specializing in training. TSA has some of the worst I've seen.

And to your earlier point, I've been bitched out by TSA despite being polite and following their protocol.

[sushi]

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if TSA training instructs employees to go against TSA protocol. In fact, that would explain some of the fuckery. But, how does that excuse TSA? They still suck.

mom probably doesn't film disney characters touching her daughter because they don't have a well known history of touching inappropriately and violating their own procedures, let alone human decency.

[redheadbaker]

Feb 22, 2013 18:11:50 GMT -5 pennypenny said:

Feb 22, 2013 17:24:56 GMT -5 sunny said:

yes, I am sure that a family with three children decided to fly to Disney World as an excuse to pick a fight with TSA and that the mother was crossing her fingers hoping her child would be selected for an extra special pat down so her daughter could be threatened to be touched unnecessarily by strangers and cry for the sake of filiming said unnecessary after-the-fact additional screening. I am sure she woke up that morning hoping the TSA would step out of line so she could get it all on film. 

And I am just sure the mom video tapes her daughter at the doctor and school and daycare. Yep, every time someone touches her daughter she is ready with her camera. I hope none of the Disney characters touched her without the camera being ready.

One would hope that the woman trusts her child's doctors and daycare teachers with her daughter's care. Trust some random TSA person? Hell no. 

[sushi]

Feb 22, 2013 18:30:26 GMT -5 @mx said:

I do agree that there is nothing to be gained from being a bitch to the screener. I have had my fair share of disagreements with officers--but that has been only after they have failed to follow their own policies (particularly as it relates to having my belongings in my line of sight) and when they get condescending and confrontational when I refuse the scanner.

Yep, that's when I have disagreements with them, too. No, I'm not leaving my laptop out of sight, and I'm not buying your story that it's safe because there are "officers" around.

Also, I have a right to refuse, so you don't need to make snide comments about how I get more radiation from flying, so I'm being irrational (this happens regularly).

I wonder if their popularity has been polled and compared to Congress.

[meshaliuknits]

Feb 22, 2013 18:17:58 GMT -5 pennypenny said:

Feb 22, 2013 18:12:30 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

I've seen TSA training. It sucks. And I say that as someone who has spend the last 8 or so years specializing in training. TSA has some of the worst I've seen.

And to your earlier point, I've been bitched out by TSA despite being polite and following their protocol.

That is another issue entirely. Yes, the training is terrible. And when the screeners have questions like well what happens when a kid in a wheelchair comes in and the parents don't really want you to touch her, etc. there is no real guidance except do what you are trained. And I am sorry, if that were my job, I would rather do my job, be vilified in the press, and have the superiors tell me I did the right thing in private than lose my job for not doing what I am supposed to.

The system is designed for the screeners to fail and everyone knows it. But what are they (the screeners) supposed to do? Should they all walk off the job? Then they will just hire Wackenhut or some other contract security. And it will be the same.

Bad training is begging for bad performance, though. Particularly if their training counters what is published publicly. If there's some super secret reason the general public can't know something about the screening procedure, TSA needs to not have information to the contrary on their websites. There is absolutely no reason to lead the general public to believe one thing and then instruct the officers to do something else. Even something like recording the procedure. Which, if they are instructed to not allow recordings, which frankly is shady. Video of the procedure would protect both the person being searched and the officer doing the searching.

God, I wish there was some way the FDA could revamp DHS's training. Those guys know what they're doing and they don't mess around.

[meltoine]

Honest question - they don't really scan kids under 12. Every time I've flown with DS it's been through airports that either had the backscatter x-rays or, more recently, the millimeter wave machines. Since they don't put kids through the machines, they wave us around and just pat us down around whatever carrier we're using, not the whole opt-out pat down. All this to say they've never even put DS through a metal detector, and I can't recall seeing any kids younger than teenagers put through them recently either.

Why would they treat a child under 12 in a wheelchair differently than any other child by requiring such heavy screening when other children are barely screened at all?

[Kristinmo]

Feb 22, 2013 18:52:23 GMT -5 meltoine said:

Honest question - they don't really scan kids under 12. Every time I've flown with DS it's been through airports that either had the backscatter x-rays or, more recently, the millimeter wave machines. Since they don't put kids through the machines, they wave us around and just pat us down around whatever carrier we're using, not the whole opt-out pat down. All this to say they've never even put DS through a metal detector, and I can't recall seeing any kids younger than teenagers put through them recently either.

Why would they treat a child under 12 in a wheelchair differently than any other child by requiring such heavy screening when other children are barely screened at all?

This is what I was thinking. Also, if they do have to follow those procedures why can't they let the parents be right there? I can carry my 3 year old through the metal detector, why can't mom or dad hold the kid in the wheelchair during the pat down?

[sushi]

They claim their policies "minimize" pat downs of children, not that it prevents them. I'm sure they'd justify this as an exception to the general don't touch children to the point of resistance rule.

[shoeless]

Just to be clear the family had already been though the checkpoint, already been though the pat down and swab, this was a random 'gate' screening.

[marissa]

I know of another family who had something similar happen at Orlando's airport while he was on a Make a Wish trip. When I traveled this summer with my youngest ( not wheelchair bound but can't walk long distances), different airports did things differently. Boston's airport swabbed his stroller that I had with me and that was it. I had him walk through and go in the stroller again. In Newark, they put it through the X-ray and had him walk through a bit longer. I ended up having to carry him.