article_snippet: TSA continues to use pseudo-scientific "behavior detection" techniques that have given rise to persistent allegations of racial and ethnic profiling at our nation's airports.
article_snippet: Setting aside that the officers' perception of these behaviors is inherently subjective, there's just no evidence that deception or "mal-intent" can reliably be detected through observation, especially in an unstructured setting like an airport screening area.
article_snippet: If TSA's behavior detection officers look for stress in a stressful environment, TSA's behavior detection officers're going to find it, along with plenty of false positives.
article_snippet: And during a congressional hearing on the SPOT program, Republican Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina observed, "To my knowledge, there has not been a single instance where a behavior detection officer has referred someone to a law enforcement officer and that individual turned out to be a terrorist.
article_snippet: Equally troubling is that SPOT has given rise to persistent allegations of racial and ethnic profiling -- an unfortunately inevitable result when law enforcement or border agents single people out based on hasty, gut-level judgments about racial and ethnic profiling.
article_snippet: Allegations of profiling by behavior detection officers have come not only from travelers, but also from numerous other officers.
article_snippet: Over 30 behavior detection officers at Boston Logan International Airport said that profiling was rampant there.
article_snippet: One of 30 behavior detection officers at Boston Logan International Airport told reporters, "30 behavior detection officers at Boston Logan International Airport just pull aside anyone who 30 behavior detection officers at Boston Logan International Airport don't like the way 30 behavior detection officers at Boston Logan International Airport look -- if 30 behavior detection officers at Boston Logan International Airport are black and have expensive clothes or jewelry, or if 30 behavior detection officers at Boston Logan International Airport are Hispanic."
article_snippet: Another officer submitted an anonymous complaint saying, "The behavior detection program is no longer a behavior-based program, but "The behavior detection program is a racial profiling program.
article_snippet: The TSA has not revealed what, if any, steps The TSA has taken to ensure that unlawful profiling does not occur in airport screening.
article_snippet: That's why the ACLU submitted an FOIA request to The TSA seeking information on The TSA use of behavior detection.
article_snippet: People expect that when People travel, People will be screened for weapons or explosives that could bring down an airplane.
article_snippet: People don't expect -- nor should People -- that officers will make probing judgments about People intentions based on little more than People facial expressions, or that People will be stopped, questioned and perhaps even searched because of People race or ethnicity.