Community | February 16, 2010 | 18 comments

TSA Forces Disabled Boy, 4, to Remove Leg Braces

source: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_region/20100215_Daniel_Rubin__Another_case_of_TSA_overki...

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rodstradamus
Did you hear about the Camden cop whose disabled son wasn't allowed to pass through airport security unless he took off his leg braces?

Unfortunately, it's no joke. This happened to Bob Thomas, a 53-year-old officer in Camden's emergency crime suppression team, who was flying to Orlando in March with his wife, Leona, and their son, Ryan.

Ryan was taking his first flight, to Walt Disney World, for his fourth birthday.

The boy is developmentally delayed, one of the effects of being born 16 weeks prematurely. His ankles are malformed and his legs have low muscle tone. In March he was just starting to walk.

The boy's father broke down the stroller and put it on the conveyor belt as Leona Thomas walked Ryan through the metal detector.

The alarm went off.

The screener told them to take off the boy's braces.

The Thomases were dumbfounded. "I told them he can't walk without them on his own," Bob Thomas said.

"He said, 'He'll need to take them off.' "

Ryan's mother offered to walk him through the detector after they removed the braces, which are custom-made of metal and hardened plastic.

No, the screener replied. The boy had to walk on his own.

They complied, and Leona went first, followed by Ryan, followed by Bob, so the boy wouldn't be hurt if he fell. Ryan made it through.

By then, Bob Thomas was furious. He demanded to see a supervisor. The supervisor asked what was wrong.

"I told him, 'This is overkill. He's 4 years old. I don't think he's a terrorist.' "

The supervisor replied, "You know why we're doing this," Thomas said.

more at link...

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18 comments // TSA Forces Disabled Boy, 4, to Remove Leg Braces

  • unclematt
  • MoonLoon
  • Davidod
    • 0
      Davidod  

    • Below is the part of the story the original poster (OP) left off, which pretty much says it all (in the words of the cop, "just abide by your SOP")

      Seems the rest of the story wasn't quite inflammatory enough for the OP, as it didn't exactly support a claim to "imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever."

      PS the word is "stomp" not "stamp".

      @@@@

      "On Friday, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said the boy never should have been told to remove his braces.

      TSA policy should have allowed the parents to help the boy to a private screening area where he could have been swabbed for traces of explosive materials.

      She said she wished Thomas had reported the matter to TSA immediately. "If screening is not properly done, we need to go back to that officer and offer retraining so it's corrected."

      Davis also said TSA's security director at the airport, Bob Ellis, called Thomas last week to apologize. He gave Thomas the name of the agency's customer service representative, in case he has a problem at the airport in the future.

      Afterward, Thomas said he appreciated Ellis' call. He said he had no interest in pursuing the matter further or in filing a lawsuit.

      "I'm just looking for things to be done right," he said. "And I just want to make sure this isn't done to anyone else. Just abide by your standard operating procedures."

    • 2 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  

    • I think that the extensive time they took to inspect this kid's leg braces was not well spent. In the time the kid took to remove the braces, walk through the metal detector, and place them back on, a real terrorist could have blown up a plane with plastic underwear explosives.

      I also think it's ridiculous that we have to go through such lengthy and extensive security protocols just to fly on a plane. Well, I guess if the homeland security you asked for is in the shape of an Orwellian police state then your dreams may very well come true.

    • 2 years ago
  • Davidod
    • 0
      Davidod  
    • lifestudentno83:

      Rather easy to armchair quarter-back, huh? What specific recommendations would you make to allow those TSA agents to make their security screening more effective?

      It's not like the terrorists aren't known to be actively probing security measures to look for weaknesses in security procedures to exploit: hence why the underwear bomber was able to get thru (and also why the TSA has changed procedures to reduce the odds of a repeat attack working; that one failed, strictly due to the bomber's incompetence).

      It's also known Al Qaeda uses those who don't fit the profile to accomplish their goals, including women, handicapped, child, etc. NOTHING is off the table for Al Qaeda, including hiding bombs in other people's luggage, or remote detonation after strapping bombs on mentally-challenged individuals.

      So once you get any better ideas, lay them on us all.

    • 2 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  
    • Davidod:

      When you live in fear, the terrorists win. In addition, I would like for you to point out the incidents they actually used women, the handicapped, and children to put a bomb on a plane.

      Also, I think you misunderstand the point I was making. I'm not saying security in an airport is not reasonable. However, this was above and beyond security. The child cannot walk properly, yet he was forced to remove his leg braces and walk through the metal detector without assistance. That extends beyond security into a lack of human decency.

      I think good old-fashioned pat downs are still more effective than the way they're going about it now. There's also the X-Ray machine that is still being tested and tweaked. The information system the TSA uses is a joke too, because with the right amount of information, a terrorist could essentially steal an identity and be on a plane to blow up.

      When it's all said and done, if the 4 year old child was "suspicious", then they could have told him to remove the braces, used a metal detector wand to search for any foreign objects, and patted him down if need be. That could have all been done while standing in one place. Personally, I think it's overkill, but if you an others truly believe that there are 4 year old terrorists, then that would be the better series of security checks due to the condition of the passenger.

      Something else to remember while defending the TSA is that terrorists are still getting around metal detectors by NOT USING METAL OBJECTS. Therefore, metal detectors could be completely bypassed for a shoe bomber; he would only have to worry about the x-ray scan of his luggage. An underwear bomber would have virtually nothing to worry about.

      In conclusion, not only is our security filled with gaps, but no security system is perfect. While I believe that the X-Ray machine is the best bet for complete security, it still needs to be tested and is too expensive for all airports right now. However, it is the system that shows the most promise. In addition, there will be no children forced to walk on legs not strong enough to support themselves, and no justifications for doing so from either the TSA or the people who defend them.

      P.S.- You seem to confuse armchair quarterbacking with stating an opinion. I was doing the latter.

    • 2 years ago
  • jamesjjohnston
  • Davidod
  • jamesjjohnston
    • 0
      jamesjjohnston  

    • It is depressing, but it's necessary. If everyone stopped bitching and moaning about having to wait in lines at security, we'd all get through alot faster.

    • 2 years ago
  • Confucius
  • Davidod
    • 0
      Davidod  
    • Confucius:

      Hence why the first words I posted were: "so what does the TSA do with infants who haven't learned to walk yet? Seems they can do the same thing for this kid..."

    • 2 years ago
  • jamesjjohnston
    • 0
      jamesjjohnston  

    • It is depressing, but it's necessary. If everyone stopped bitching and moaning about having to wait in lines at security, we'd all get through alot faster.

    • 2 years ago
  • jamesjjohnston
    • -1
      jamesjjohnston  

    • It is depressing, but it's necessary. If everyone stopped bitching and moaning about having to wait in lines at security, we'd all get through alot faster.

    • 2 years ago
  • outtheinside
    • +2
      outtheinside  

    • (1) it doesn't matter who the kid's father is or what the father's profession is
      (2) fairness comes in all shapes and sizes when it comes to protection. what if someone else in leg braces got a free pass after seeing the kid get a free pass through the metal detector?
      (3) it's not like the kid was traumatized. it sounds more like the father was the one with the problem. he should know as a cop that it's better not to discriminate on "who looks like a terrorist" and check everything by protocol.
      (4) if they were given the option of having to wait longer, get pulled aside, and swab the kid for explosives, do you think he would have taken that option? would he still use the same argument of "he's just a kid"? we won't know, but i think the issue here is just with the father coming from a "I'm a cop and this is my son so why should he remove his leg braces?" view.

      maybe i'm a cynic thinking that the authority cop figure wanted special treatment by other authority figures, but i think he over-reacted while his son probably could care less.

    • 2 years ago
  • ALLNATURALVEGANS
  • blueman53
  • Confucius
  • Davidod
    • 0
      Davidod  

    • So what does the TSA do with infants who haven't learned to walk yet? Seems they can do the same thing for this kid...

      Anyway, terrorists have proven they're willing to insert bombs in underwear, and now we have word they're trying to insert bombs in silicone implants; why shouldn't they insert them in the leg braces of a kid, too?

      Sorry, but no one gets a 'free pass' here. If people want equal rights, then congrats: they've got it!

    • 2 years ago
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