ACLU says NO to Israeli style airport behavioral screening.

[pnwmom]

http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty/welcome-airport-security-wizard-will-be-you-shortly-en


Let's talk about a little known program being deployed across the nations' airports called SPOT, Screening Passengers by Observation Technique. According to an article in Nature News, by Sharon Weinberger, America's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has trained 3,000 officers to detect and infer future behavior, in what can only be described as a psychic effort, to determine an individual's intent. The TSA claims that these screeners are trained to observe and identify people who appear to be deceptive and planning hostile acts.

How, you ask?

In the 1970's psychologist Paul Ekman codeveloped the 'facial action coding system', for analyzing human facial expressions. He is now capitalizing on this theory by teaching people he calls "wizards" how to link those expressions to hidden emotions, including the intent to deceive. I would caution travelers against tensing your lips or raising your brow while waiting in an airport security line. You may end up in cuffs.

Although this has been a lucrative venture for Ekman and the media is eating up his superhero detection rhetoric, Weinberger reports that his colleagues are still waiting to see a comprehensive evaluation of his work. According to her findings, his work has never been subjected to controlled scientific tests. She goes on to cite instances where fellow scientists were unable to replicate Ekman's results on facial coding. In fact, recent studies have cast serious doubt on the scientific basis for Ekman's and the TSA's wishful thinking. The JASON Defense Advisory Group prepared a report in 2008 that stated, "No scientific evidence exists to support the detection or inference of future behavior, including intent." In addition, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, released a two- year review of the program stating that the TSA had no business deploying SPOT in airports across the nation "without first validating the scientific basis for identifying suspicious passengers in an airport environment."

It gets better. According to the GAO report,from late May 2004 through August 2008, Behavior Detection Officers (BDOs) referred 152,000 travelers to secondary inspection, which resulted in approximately 1,100 arrests. These arrests included offenses such as outstanding warrants, illegal alien status and possession of drugs, but none of them were for terrorism-related offenses or threats to aviation, which is what the SPOT program is designed to identify. As Jim Harper of the CATO Institute pointed out , the number of arrests represents less than 1 percent of those sent to secondary screening. The GAO noted its inability to determine if this is a better arrest rate than would occur under random screenings. In other words, these statistics are likely not greater than chance. On a separate note, the GAO report also determined that at least 16 individuals allegedly involved in terrorism plots have moved at least 23 different times through eight airports where the SPOT program has been implemented. SPOT failed to catch any of these individuals.

SNIP

_________________________________________________________________________

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100526/full/465412a.html

In August 2009, Nicholas George, a 22-year-old student at Pomona College in Claremont, California, was going through a checkpoint at Philadelphia International Airport when he was pulled aside for questioning. As the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees searched his hand luggage, they chatted with him about innocuous subjects, such as whether he'd watched a recent game.

Inside George's bag, however, the screeners found flash cards with Arabic words — he was studying Arabic at Pomona — and a book they considered to be critical of US foreign policy. That led to more questioning, this time by a TSA supervisor, about George's views on the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. Eventually, and seemingly without cause, he was handcuffed by Philadelphia police, detained for four hours, and questioned by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents before being released without charge.

George had been singled out by behaviour-detection officers: TSA screeners trained to pick out suspicious or anomalous behaviour in passengers. There are about 3,000 of these officers working at some 161 airports across the United States, all part of a four-year-old programme called Screening Passengers by Observation Technique (SPOT), which is designed to identify people who could pose a threat to airline passengers.

SNIP

[polichick]

1. I'd much rather be interviewed than groped or x-rayed. nt

[jberryhill]

30. So, let's chuck the Fifth Amendment while we are at it?

Ummmm... the contents of my mind are much more sacred than the contents of my baggage or my underwear.

[polichick]

94. I saw a segment about how Israel interviews passengers and watches...

...for clues like nervous tics and too much sweat - they ask where you're going, what you plan to do there, that sort of thing.

I'd have no problem with that - if they crossed any lines you could invoke the Fifth and refuse to fly.

[Vincardog]

2. The title is in error this is NOT Israeli style airport behavioral screening. In Israel agents talk

to EVERYONE waiting to at the ticket counter. They let the people know that the agents are there to help make the passengers Safer.
The VAST majority of the passengers are happy to cooperate. They are the ones that will be flying that day.
This is not to be confused with BS jedi mind tricks.

[pnwmom]

3. They don't just talk, they also "observe." There are many agents

in plainclothes throughout the airports doing these "observations."

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Alas this is SOP around the world

And it works...

[Vincardog]

6. Your point is? They do not rely on Fabricated BS, They rely on time proven interview techniques.

[pnwmom]

11. They rely on profiling and "face reading."

They observe behavior and ask extensive questions and look for "suspicious" signs and things that aren't "normal." Don't you see how easily this could be abused?

For example:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/15/60II/main3244...

What do the Israelis do that the Americans don’t do? Well, they’ve had sky marshals since the 1960s. And racial profiling.

SNIP

Merav Rosen is a supervisor. She’s 28 and has worked at Ben Gurion seven years.

What is she looking for?

"Anything out of the ordinary, anything that does not fit," she says. "People that ask too many questions, people who seem to be lying, to be hiding something from us. We look for the extraordinary, what is not normal, what we don’t know as normal."


____________________

More links here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9578604

[Vincardog]

13. As opposed to feeling up every passenger? I think you are o the wrong side of this.

[Violet_Crumble]

15. So it's okay to discriminate against Arabs the way Israel does?

Because that's what happens at Israeli airports. There's no justification for racial profiling at all...

[sally cat]

17. What proof do you have that they discriminate against Arabs, besides anecdotal?

[Violet_Crumble]

19. Here's some proof, though I thought most people were aware of the long-term harrassment ...

U.S. officials: Israeli border authorities harass Arab Americans

American officials have complained recently that Israeli immigration authorities harass American citizens of Arab origin at Israeli border crossings.

During meetings between senior State Department officials and their counterparts in Israel, the Americans said that in recent months there has been a troubling increase in the number of complaints by American citizens of Palestinian and Arab origin, regarding the treatment they receive at border crossings and airports in Israel.

American officials have complained recently that Israeli immigration authorities harass American citizens of Arab origin at Israeli border crossings.

During meetings between senior State Department officials and their counterparts in Israel, the Americans said that in recent months there has been a troubling increase in the number of complaints by American citizens of Palestinian and Arab origin, regarding the treatment they receive at border crossings and airports in Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/u-s-officials-israeli-border-authorities-harass-arab-americans-1.229520

[riderinthestorm]

21. Blow me down Violet. I agree with you.

Another interesting article"

http://www.forward.com/articles/122781/

From the article:

"Interest in Israeli security firms peaked after the September 11 terror attacks, and many former counterterrorism professionals from Israel ventured into the growing American security market.

But according to an Israeli involved in the security sector, most Israeli-run security consulting companies have since downsized or left the field of airport security due to the difficulty in overcoming cultural gaps that prevented implementing Israeli methods in American airports. “People simply won’t agree to spend all that time and money,” he said. “You can’t change the way people think.” Bezherano added another factor: “Americans find it hard to swallow a security policy that employs different standards to different groups.”

While for most Jewish Israelis the policy of profiling in airport security is viewed as acceptable, Arab citizens of the country see it as outright discrimination.

“This is the most offensive and humiliating experience I have ever had. I was immediately suspect because I am Arab,” said Saleh Yaaqubi, an Arab-Israeli student chosen to represent Tel Aviv University in an international conference alongside several other students. Yaaqubi’s story was told in a 2006 report prepared by the Arab Association for Human Rights. He said that while all Jewish members of his group passed the security checkpoints quickly, he was taken for further questioning time and again, both when leaving Israel and upon his return."


Farther on in the article, it details that the US already profiles from 14 other countries, and they are... you guessed it, virtually all Arab.

[Violet_Crumble]

23. Hey, it's good to be in agreement with you...

Of course I've noticed from reading posts of yrs around DU that I agree with you on far more than I'd disagree on :)

[pnwmom]

90. Thanks for the link. Interesting article. n/t

[sally cat]

29. We are talking about airlines! I can't believe you went there! And it's a claim, not proof.

[Violet_Crumble]

40. Yeah, how dare I and others post articles that show discrimination does indeed happen...

The US State Department doesn't just pull that sort of stuff out of its arse and fling claims around. Nor are all those Arab-Americans lying. But I'd be very interested in what you will accept as proof that there's discrimination against Arabs at Israeli airports, and I'm also curious to know whether you demand such a demanding burder of proof when it comes to anything else you discuss here at DU...

[pnwmom]

42. If you google about "el al" and "racial profiling" you can find

thousands of posts, including about lawsuits that have been won by people complaining that they were the target of racial or religious profiling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_security


As part of its focus on this so-called "human factor," Israeli security officers interrogate travelers using racial profiling, singling out those who appear to be Arab based on name or physical appearance.<24> Additionally, all passengers, even those who do not appear to be of Arab descent, are questioned as to why they are traveling to Israel, followed by several general questions about the trip in order to search for inconsistencies.<20> Although numerous civil rights groups have demanded an end to the profiling, Israel maintains that it is both effective and unavoidable. As stated by Ariel Merari, an Israeli terrorism expert, "it would be foolish not to use profiling when everyone knows that most terrorists come from certain ethnic groups. They are likely to be Muslim and young, and the potential threat justifies inconveniencing a certain ethnic group."<25>

More articles at this link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9578604

[pnwmom]

39. Apparently many people are not, Violet. Including most of the

people here who are advocating for Israeli-style airport security.

[Violet_Crumble]

45. I'm sure some are, but don't care about discrimination unless it affects them...

Maybe those people advocating Israeli-style airport security should look at other countries where the security is successful and all done without resorting to racial profiling and advocate a model minus that racial profiling...

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

49. You mean MEXICO CITY, which was ahem israelized

after 9.11?

Nah, I could not look at an airport with the traffic of JFK, where they have multiple layers, and all that crap...

And we could not learn something.

This is about corruption at the highest levels of government and excuses.

[Violet_Crumble]

54. If Mexico City is using racial profiling, I most definately don't mean that...

Which you should have realised seeing as how I made several mentions of advocating the practices of countries that don't engage in the racial profiling stuff....

[nadinbrzezinski]

57. What part of asking questions

from people that come from areas of the world where terror is more common are you missing? That is not racial profiling, but good police work.

If they happened to come from Germany in 1975 in the modern environment, the same questions apply.

[Violet_Crumble]

61. What part of pointing out

that Israel uses racial profiling are you missing? That's called discrimination and bigotry....

Advocating a system where racial profiling is a part of it is not acceptable at all...

[nadinbrzezinski]

63. Well then don't trave to Mexico

or a few European Airports either.

But you have no problem with suspending the Fourth Amendment and using what is NOT a terry stop.

Gotcha!

For the text of that pesky amendment read my sig.

[Violet_Crumble]

68. Um, why?

I'll travel where I want to. I'll do what other folk who oppose racial profiling do and speak out against it whenever its advocates start trying to make out it's acceptable...

No, yr not understanding what I have a problem with, though I've repeated it many times now and don't see how you can be missing it.

I. Have. A. Problem. With. Racial. Profiling.

I'm opposed to racial profiling and have yet to see any justifications that would make treating people differently depending on what ethnicity they are to be acceptable...

[nadinbrzezinski]

71. They use the METHODS you object to

that is why. Don't give them your money.

Oh and don't come to the US either since profiling is our middle name, especially in the inner city.

(Yes I am a critic by the way, but security theater don't work)

[Violet_Crumble]

75. So what? I can go where I like and it's none of yr business...

Yr turning this discussion into something personal, and it's making me uncomfortable. Please stop. If you want to discuss racial profiling, I'm in, but if you want to discuss me, I'm not going to have anything to do with it. Thanks...

[jberryhill]

76. Mexicans don't have to apply US Constitutional case law

Why would I object to whether Mexicans are violating the Fifth Amendment by conducting interrogations of passengers.

They can do that.

I object to US officials conducting non-Mirandized interrogations in the US, because it is a violation of the US Constitution.

The Mexicans have their own Constitution.

I enjoyed my trip there, and found the "red button" random search machine to be fascinating, but it is still a randomized statistical search.

Israel also has internal checkpoints, heavy surveillance of movement, electronic surveillance of foreign visitors, a population of which a majority of native adults have served in the armed forces due to compulsory service, and a lot of other factors that make the airport safer, before passengers even show up, and which we would not tolerate.

Israeli techniques in Mexico have made NO DENT in terrorist attacks on airlines in Mexico. Which were zero before they got the advice.

I am starting a drinking game, though. Everytime someone on DU says "security theater", everyone has to have a drink.

[WinkyDink]

47. Could that article be any more vague?

[Violet_Crumble]

55. It wasn't vague. What bits do you need explained to you? n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Airport...and let me ask you a serious question

If you are looking for drugs you think it is unfair all flights from Colombia are treated the way they are in the US and given a triple once over? Log in same eye applies here by the way.

Proactive security requires this actually. So you think my passport with a visa from Mexico deserves the same exact once over as a visa from oh Egypt?

And yes we ALREADY do this. Pasengers coming from abroad, from seven countries, are given the once over or more than just nonce when they reach Immigration...which actually is a problem, as this should happen, if we feel this is a threat, BEFORE people board a plane.

I know knowledge is power...

[Violet_Crumble]

20. What yr using as examples aren't racial profiling...

What is done in Israel IS racial profiling. Huge difference which I'll be more than happy to explain to you if you need me to...


Knowledge sure is power :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. What is done at US Immigration is RACIAL PROFILING

it is HAPPENING NOW.

GET IT?

No you don't.

By the way it is also happening on America's streets... what do you think cops do regularly on patrol? Look for an out of date tag?

Jesus age, there are days!

[Violet_Crumble]

37. What you described in yr post isn't racial profiling and here's why...

Focusing on flights that come from some countries (eg flights from Vietnam get closer scrutiny due to drug smuggling) isn't racial profiling as individuals aren't being singled out because of their ethnicity. What happens in Israel is racial profiling as there's different treatment for Arabs than for Israeli Jews. That's why Arab-Americans were complaining about their treatment going through the airport and why the US state department raised it as a concern...

Racial profiling is an ugly thing that some in the groups not being affected appear to be perfectly okay with even though it'd be a whole different story if they were being affected. Trying to justify it by saying it's used somewhere else or confusing it with security measures that aren't aimed at individuals because of their ethnicity doesn't work...

[nadinbrzezinski]

38. you sure?

okie dokie...

[Violet_Crumble]

41. I'm sure. Glad to have gotten that cleared up n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

44. Good, we could even exchange credentials

and experience, but why bother?

It is okie dokie when we do it, to others, but lord help us if somebody else does it.

Got it!

[Violet_Crumble]

50. I'm not interested in swapping anything...

Where on earth have you gotten the idea that I think racial profiling is okay when *we* (btw, I'm Australian, not American) do it to others, but not okay for others to do it? What was unclear in what I said about being opposed to racial profiling no matter who does it and which ethnic group it's aimed at? Because I clearly remember saying that in my previous post...

[nadinbrzezinski]

53. Well use your drug example

my drug example, you are ok with that, but not asking a few more questions from a passenger that has been to oh Qatar? Never mind the recent history of the region. This would and did apply as well, back in the 1970s to both Italy and Germany.. oh and I forgot Ireland, during the 1980s

[Violet_Crumble]

58. The drug example isn't racial profiling...

Nor is asking more questions of passengers that come from a country where there needs to be more scrutiny. Racial profiling is singling out people because of their ethnicity for special treatment, and that's what's done in Israel...

[nadinbrzezinski]

60. I guess if my passport has a visa from Egypt I expect

the tripple once over... which is what is done in Israel most of the time.

[Violet_Crumble]

64. But that's not racial profiling...

What Israel does in singling out Arabs for different treatment IS racial profiling. They're singled out not because of travel movements, but because of their ethnicity...

[nadinbrzezinski]

65. and their travel movements

I know you hate them, but it is effective, unlike the security theater we have here.

by the way, the State Department issues travel advisories all the time.., and they are for a slew of reasons... there is more, sometimes the state department issues them, and then recants them... no, not saying this is the case, just making you aware... having been in the middle of a few, having worked in a border area.

[Violet_Crumble]

74. No, they're singled out because they're Arabs...

They're not pulled aside because of their travel movements, but because of their ethnicity. That's why Arab-Americans were complaining about the treatment they got when entering and leaving Israel....

I'm aware that travel advisories are issued all the time and the advisories change as situations change. Not sure what yr trying to say, because if yr saying the State Department and all those Arab-Americans who complained are wrong, then that's not a good way to argue it...

[nadinbrzezinski]

77. I am no saying that but whatever

have a good day, life, whatever... enjoy security theater....

Me, will try to fly from now on through airports that actually do security and NOT theater. I do have that option. and I am fed up with the theater.

[Violet_Crumble]

78. Security theater! Security theater!

Just bringing the reference in yr post to the attention of anyone playing the new drinking game I saw mentioned elsewhere in the thread :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

79. Play whatever you want

I can recognize a sham when I see one (Ok a slight improvement from the pre-911 days), but it is a joke.

If you don't get why? I guess that's a good thing...

Have a good day... life, whatever.

And do drink up, please do.

[Violet_Crumble]

82. Well I know I'll sleep sounder tonight knowing I have yr approval to play a drinking game!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I suspect the steam's run out of yr argument about racial profiling, so unless you have something new to add, could we dispense with you repeating the same line about having a good day and bring an end to this exchange?

[jberryhill]

93. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart"

...and the bottom of my shot glass!

[jberryhill]

81. CHEERS!

Bottoms up.

Good for a three day bender, this one is.

Maybe tomorrow we'll play, "You don't agree with me, so you are a poopy-head!"

[pnwmom]

72. And you think it's acceptable for police on our streets to use racial profiling?

Wow.

[nadinbrzezinski]

73. Did I say it was?

No.

But do carry on.

I just happen to recognize the reality.

[jberryhill]

84. The reality of getting TO an airport on roads in Israel?

Where there are checkpoints that use profiling?

You seem to believe that your opinion of things is the only correct and valid one, and that anyone who disagrees with you does not "recognize the reality".

There is a far-reaching security state in Israel, and quite frankly the Mexicans have not improved their security at all, since there have been no terrorist attacks aboard or upon their aircraft in the first place.

That's kind of surprising, given that Mexico is in a warm civil war to some extent.

Do you think you could stop bullying people, and accept that it is permissible to disagree with you?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

22. Have you ever been there?

I have, and have not seen that.

[Violet_Crumble]

24. So coz you claim not to have seen something, it doesn't happen?

Read the information that's being posted in this thread. There is definately discrimination against Arabs happening in Israel. The US state department and all those Arab-Americans who have complained about the way they're treated differently are all liars??

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. And? SOP questions and attitudes

Jesus age you have no idea about security, do you?

[A HERETIC I AM]

88. It has become apparent to me after reading this subthread....

That "Violet Crumble" seems to think that even though the specific threat stems from a specific community or ethnicity, that community or ethnicity should simply be treated as if no threat ever came from there.

Nadin, I'm right there with you in your arguments, but I might be a bit more forthright;

It is just simply too bad that the majority of the threat to El Al (speaking specifically, since this argument started discussing Israeli security methods) comes from individuals of the "Arab" races or cultures, BUT THAT'S HOW IT IS! I say it is too bad for the vast majority of peaceful Arab travelers that they are subject to more stringent screening and questioning than the average Israeli, and yes, it sucks for them but the Israeli's have noticed over the decades that damned few Israeli nationals have the propensity to kill other Israeli's. It just so happens that the overwhelming number of individuals that DO have the inclination to do so ARE ARAB!

Why such a simple concept is lost on so many people is beyond me.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. OP is on a roll

Aparently it isnbetter to susoend the fourth ammendment.

[elleng]

8. Thats what we heard yesterday, on NewsHour?, from former Israeli official.

Unfortunately we didn't hear what is discussed in the interviews. I'm interested to learn.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Travelled lately?

Remember the "did you pack your bags?"

I haven't been asked this in the US recently...seems silly but asking this is standard in other places. Silly shit like destination, and here is key...looking you in the eye.

Yes if they get more suspicious there is a longer set of questions. Most folks less than a minute, to be honest...99% of travelers are all but hassled.

[sally cat]

32. I've had a feeling that someday I would read something on the internet that was not true. This title

is it!

[JackRiddler]

96. Actually I got patted down too, but no groping.

They did a rectal probe on an English guy with a Kuwaiti visa in his passport.

[sally cat]

5. SPOT fails to do what the Israeli model excels in: passenger interaction. No comparison.

[pnwmom]

46. The Israeli model also involves training screeners in observing

people's behavior and faces for clues -- much like the SPOT system. They do this observation before, during, and after the interviews.

[XemaSab]

9. Yeah, because crazed jihadis carry around Arabic flash cards

:P

[sally cat]

10. I thought the ACLU was concerned about TSA groping. No?

[Violet_Crumble]

16. They would be. What's yr point? n/t

[sally cat]

33. No, they aren't at this point. Unless you have some proof that they are?

[riderinthestorm]

25. And it's very expensive. I read an article in Bloomberg from 2005

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aFyfihM1e3G4


"Borovich estimated El Al's security bill at $100 million a year, which amounts to $76.92 per trip by its 1.3 million passengers. Half is paid by the Israeli government.

By contrast, the TSA spent $4.58 billion on aviation security, or just $6.21 per trip by 737 million passengers, in fiscal 2005."

We're just 5 years since this article was published, and while I'm absolutely certain the TSA has increased it's budget, I'm also sure it hasn't increased it 10x in the past 5 years. Would love it if anyone had any stats on this....

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. And that is the real reason it is not done

it would not allow certain companies to line their pockets, read Rapiscan.

[pansypoo53219]

27. i had those questions when i flew to denmark.

it didn't take overlong. in stockholm i did the questions then went to look for swedish sweets and exchange my kroner. i come back with my sweetroll and security guy says he has to do the questions again. yada yada yada. but no biggie. best airline food too.

[Toucano]

31. "Israeli style" is your characterization, no?

The article says nothing about Israel and you are mistaking this "facial wizardry" with old fashioned, tried and true detective work.

I don't think that's helpful to anyone.

[sally cat]

34. The title is a complete fabrication. Desperately trying to discredit the successful Israeli model.

[Toucano]

51. And see, that's what screwing everything up.

It's no longer possible to simply convince people to agree with you on facts and the soundness of your argument. That's so pre-W.

Now if you think you're right about something, you have to use deception and misrepresentation to convince others to agree with you.

The process, the debate and discussion are what lead us to the truth - and a harmonious society. But when people commit this kind of misrepresentation to bolster their incorrectly held beliefs it pushes the truth further away and spoils the whole thing.

"Saddam sought significant quantities of yellow-cake uranium in Nigeria. Curve ball told me so."

[pnwmom]

48. The Israeli model also involves training screeners in ways

that are supposed to spot suspicious behavior and to detect lies based on facial cues. The interviews they conduct are just part of their system. They also heavily rely on observing behavior, faces, and on racial and religious profiling.

[Toucano]

62. The Sharon Weinberger piece says the Israeli method is not SPOT.

Although Israeli aviation security uses interview-intensive screening, it's not clear how practical such an interview method would be at busy airport checkpoints, which have to screen hundreds or thousands of passengers every hour. The guards would still need some way to choose who to interview, or no one would ever get on a plane. This is the seductive appeal of programs such as SPOT and FAST.

Emphasis mine.

SPOT is an attempt to imitate the Israeli system on a large scale since the U.S. has exponentially more flyers than Israel.

It's an effort to take a shortcut to the Israeli system; All the results with none of the work.

The system the ACLU is objecting to cannot correctly be called "Israeli style". Maybe it was an honest mistake on your part.

[pnwmom]

66. It's an attempt to "imitate the Israeli system" as you correctly point out.

I didn't say it was exactly equivalent, I said it was "Israeli style."

And it shares many of its faults -- specifically, that it relies on the supposed ability of trained personnel to act as human lie detectors, and that it lends itself to racial and religious profiling.

[Toucano]

80. Okay, I see why you say that.

Elkman's "facial action coding system", the "hocus pocus wizardry" with no scientific basis, is the foundation of SPOT. The U.S. is trying to use this "wizardry" to spot suspicious people from a distance -- to narrow down the field of people who should be interviewed more closely.

"See that guy? He just raised his left eyebrow...that's in the manual...go talk to him!" is SPOT.

But the Israeli system does not employ a "facial action coding system". They interview passengers and in the interview, more than their facial movements are analyzed. It's the composite of the passenger's responses and behavior that can reveal someone behaving suspiciously. Inconsistencies in responses among two people traveling together can raise a red flag.

Raising a red flag doesn't mean they get drawn and quartered. It means this person merits closer scrutiny.

Any detective, judge -- any parent of a teenager -- can tell you this has value in uncovering deception.

And it doesn't have to be administered in the hostile manner the TSA conducts interviews. It can be cordial...making everyone a part of our mutually shared security.

"Good morning. Where are you heading to today?"
"Washington, D.C."
"That's nice. Have you been there before?"
"No, it's my first time."
"Do you have any family there?"
"No, I don't."
"Are you going to the Redskins Game on Saturday?"
"I hope so."
"Who's picking you up at the airport?"
"My brother. D'oh!"
"Step over here, sir."

The human factor is what distinguishes the "Israeli style" from our inconvenient, grandma groping, technologically based shortcut methods. This is the work of law enforcement and detectives.

[nadinbrzezinski]

It should start with the question no longer asked

did you pack your baggs?
Has anybody touched your bags since you closed your baggage?
"Are you carrying any liquids?"

Of course if you are doing the full monty, you start at the OUTER perimeter of the airport, if you are going to HIGH Security, and ask why are you going to the Airport?

Since Hickam and Honolulu share the strip, they did that there.

[Toucano]

85. I'm not writing a script!

If the TSA wants that, they have to pay me! :-)

I just wanted to show an example of how seemingly meaningless chit chat with someone can reveal something they didn't intend to reveal.

[nadinbrzezinski]

86. I know, I just wanted to bring attention to the first two

they USED to be standard, and seem silly... they are not.

They no longer ask them... in the US.

When I flew from Mexico City last September they asked that when I checked the bags in.

They gave my passport the once over five times...

And they physically checked my carry on before boarding.

[nadinbrzezinski]

83. It should start with the question no longer asked

did you pack your baggs?
Has anybody touched your bags since you closed your baggage?
"Are you carrying any liquids?"

Of course if you are doing the full monty, you start at the OUTER perimeter of the airport, if you are going to HIGH Security, and ask why are you going to the Airport?

Since Hickam and Honolulu share the strip, they did that there.

[nadinbrzezinski]

67. They should go down to Mexico City

and check HOW they have implemented this... That airport handles the same traffic as JFK.

[pnwmom]

91. They have never had an airplane terrorist attack, including decades

before they put their new policies in place. So we don't know whether their system works at all, because there are no statistics to compare from before and after.

[Bluenorthwest]

35. Seems you just deemed this to be 'Israeli style'

as if it were big cous cous...

[jberryhill]

36. Here's the issue

"they chatted with him about innocuous subjects"

In the US, you do not have to chat with a government official who wants to chat with you.

Yes, TSA agents do it, border agents do it, and customs agents do it.

You can smile and shrug, or simply point to your ear and shake your head, but the proper response to a law enforcement official asking you a question is "Am I free to go?"

The border is a slightly different situation. All of your required answers are on the entry declaration form. If a question is answered on the form, refer to the form. If a question relates to some extraneous topic, man it's been a long flight and you just are not up for conversation.

I quit engaging them after returning from a trip abroad to meet with a client, and the border agent started asking me questions like, "what does your client do?" Wigged me right out, as I've never had to assert privilege against a law enforcement official before. Then again, I've never had a law enforcement official think it was a bright idea to ask a question relating to privilege. I asserted it, asked if I was free to go, and haven't chatted with those guys since.

To me - THAT was the equivalent of how some people feel about a genital search.

I am NOT going to answer extraneous questions put to me by a law enforcement official in the US.

[pnwmom]

52. I agree. I don't think the people who are pushing

the Israeli interview/behavioral cue method for the U.S. have any idea how intrusive it could be, and that it is usually connected with racial and religious profiling.

I don't see how the Israeli method, or anything like it, would work in the U.S.

[LawnLover]

43. The way I've always understood it is

that the Israeli's use behavioral profiling such as sweating and nervousness is meant NOT to "infer future behavior" but to identify passengers who are CURRENTLY up to something.

There's a great description of it in Lee Child's novel, GONE TOMORROW. http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Tomorrow-Jack-Reacher-13/dp/0440243688/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1290131967&sr=8-2

Click the "search inside this book" link to read the first chapter, where it's located. Yes, it's fiction, but I think he does a great job of describing it.

[TheKentuckian]

56. I think we have it all ass backward.

I support arming every willing and able passenger with a Bowie knife and maybe a reduced velocity pistol that fires rubber bullets. Other than those wanting to just blow the plane their would be little in the way of hijacking or 9/11 type opportunities.

There is no special magic to a plane at that point. You blow it in the air and you might have less damage potential than a bus and much less than a train or a perfectly stationary Wallyworld.

The logic leads us to complete loss of the concept of a free society pretty quick, once you slide down the slope from the plane you have effectively flushed the idea of privacy and any protection from search and seizure.

We take some risks by being above ground and able to go as we please, when we please secure in our persons and possessions and would not be free of them without ownership of even our skin.

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. The Fourth Amendment is so yesterday!

and the closing of American Society continues.

[jberryhill]

69. Yes, now folks want to take out the Fifth Amendment "Israeli Style"

...with interrogations.

What do you value more - the contents your mind, or the contents of your underwear?

[pnwmom]

70. "Just wanting to blow the plane" was their most recent goal.

I think we should be trying to stop them. And arming all the other passengers (many of them on liquid refreshments) isn't a good idea.

[TheKentuckian]

87. The next goal may be to blow up a train, the next a bus, the next a Walmart,

after that a bridge.

What are you willing to do to TRY to stop such acts?

At some point, not very far down the road such logic travels, we will become a closed society with no right to privacy under constant surveillance. That means that the terrorist won and did so going away.

[A HERETIC I AM]

89. The way I see it, there are two ways to fix that;

1) Stop giving people that want to kill you reasons to want to kill you.

2) Take away or neutralize the ability to kill you from the persons that want to do so.

[jberryhill]

92. Bridges are tough

It's not just a matter of making a big boom someplace and the bridge falls down (except in Minnesota where they fall down by themselves).

The relative carnage level of a train or a bus just doesn't have the same sort of psychological hold that air crashes do. A passenger aircraft going down in a populated area is spectacular and has a high body count. Americans hardly even think about, for example, the London Underground bombing.

A Wal-Mart? Hmmmm... I'll get back to you on that one. After hours might be okay.

[Catherina]

95. Thank you ACLU. n/t

[Lucian]

97. SPOT is a horrible program.

What if someone was having a bad day and had a scowl on their face? They should be pulled aside, questioned, and groped because of a scowl?

What a load of shit.

[DirkGently]

98. As a general principle. I think observation and interview makes more sense than

... simply running everyone through increasingly dangerous and invasive machinery. Technology has a role, but this latest from the TSA is emblematic of the dumb, one-size-fits-all approach we take here.

I don't disagree that we shouldn't look to Israel's model to the extent it engages in harrassment or racial / ethnic profiling -- which I note is not a practice Israel openly claims or endorses. But observing behavior? Why *wouldn't* we do that? There's always another way to hide a weapon.

The idea of focusing on individual behavior, done in an intelligent way, rather than these increasingly dangerous and humiliating cattle chutes the TSA is backing, seems smarter. I don't think the TSA gadget would necessarily even catch a threat, given the numb mindless way it's likely to be employed.

I also like Eckman's theories. It may not be gold-star peer reviewed proveable, and may not even be applicable to airport security screening on a large scale. And his "wizard" nomenclature is a bit off-putting. But I don't think "micro-expressions," and his other thoughts on signs of deception are quackery. Mostly just intuition speaking, but I've dealt with a number of adults telling lies under stress, and watching and listening carefully can tell you a lot. Probably more than X-raying their shoes anyway.

I don't think it's a question of choosing between Israel's methods, which wouldn't fully work here anyway simply due to scale, vs. the TSA's lunkheaded gizmos. We ought to study what works (and is within the protections of the Constitution) and adapt the smartest, most efficient strategies we can without resorting to groping toddlers or zapping people with radiation to look at their underwear.