   Air Marshals place innocent people on terrorist lists,
StoryQuote:DENVER -- You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they're reporting your actions to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it.The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told 7NEWS that they're required to submit at least one report a month. If they don't, there's no raise, no bonus, no awards and no special assignments.Is it just me, or is it just common sense that you don't say to people, "You have to find 1 terrorist per month"? I mean, couldn't anyone SEE that this would result in innocent people being put on terrorist lists? Couldn't anyone forsee that?This is disgusting. Whoever issued that command should be fired, and anyone who put innocent people on the list should also be fired. This is disgusting. Here is more:Quote:The body of the memo said, "Each federal air marshal is now expected to generate at least one SDR per month.""Does that memo read to you that Federal Air Marshal headquarters has set a quota on these reports?" Kovaleski asked."Absolutely, no doubt," an air marshal replied.A second management memo, also dated July 2004, said, "There may come an occasion when you just don't see anything out of the ordinary for a month at a time, but I'm sure that if you are looking for it, you'll see something.""If you're looking for it, you'll see something." That same argument could be made about UFOs. "I'm sure if you look in the sky long enough you'll find the UFOs." Why don't we start putting every moving object we see in the sky as UFOs!This is insane.   
  I'm not sure if it's related to this database, but there's something wrong with the no fly list that not only had Senator Kennedy on it, but also took more than 3 weeks to get him off of it.   ;  Well, traffic cops have speeding ticket quotas. Air marshals are a product of the largely reprehensible war on (some) terror.I'd expect most of these terror watch lists are racial profiling-generated. In fact, I'd also wager that racial profiling is one of the primary tools during anti-terrist training.   ;  Well, there is a difference between traffic tickets and being put on a terrorist list [grin].I'm against quotas in any form in law enforcement, all they do is cause officers to CREATE infractions to meet quota. Either enforce the law because it is the law or don't enforce it at all.   ;  Well, I understand why quotas exist for traffic violations - in a city with more than fifty traffic cops, it's nearly impossible to handle it differently without major budget changes, but quotas would be entirely unreasonable in this case. It's unlikely that there will be one terrorist per month, per marshall on a marhsalled plane.   ;Quote:..."Do these reports have real life impacts on the people who are identified as potential terrorists?" 7NEWS Investigator Tony Kovaleski asked."Absolutely," a federal air marshal replied....What kind of impact would it have for a flying individual to be named in an SDR?"That could have serious impact ... They could be placed on a watch list. They could wind up on databases that identify them as potential terrorists or a threat to an aircraft. It could be very serious," said Don Strange, a former agent in charge of air marshals in Atlanta. He lost his job attempting to change policies inside the agency...."To meet this quota, to get their raises, do you think federal air marshals in Las Vegas are making some of this stuff up?" Kovaleski asked."I know they are. It's a joke," an air marshal replied."Have marshals in the Las Vegas office, I don't want to say fabricated, but 'created' reports?" Kovaleski asked."Creative writing -- stretching a long ways the truth, yes," an air marshal replied.One example, according to air marshals, occurred on one flight leaving Las Vegas, when an unknowing passenger, most likely a tourist, was identified in an SDR for doing nothing more than taking a photo of the Las Vegas skyline as his plane rolled down the runway....;Quote:Original post by LessBreadQuote:One example, according to air marshals, occurred on one flight leaving Las Vegas, when an unknowing passenger, most likely a tourist, was identified in an SDR for doing nothing more than taking a photo of the Las Vegas skyline as his plane rolled down the runway....Well, that clears that up. If you say "tourist" fast enough, it sounds like "terrorist".Clearly, these people are being marked at TOURISTS and the evil liberal media lied and said we're calling everyone TERRORISTS.Personally, I think we should keep a database of tourists, their exact locations at all times, and which cheap meaningless trinkets they buy. Because if we don't, then the tourists have won.   ;Quote:Original post by Avatar GodWell, I understand why quotas exist for traffic violations - in a city with more than fifty traffic cops, it's nearly impossible to handle it differently without major budget changes, but quotas would be entirely unreasonable in this case. It's unlikely that there will be one terrorist per month, per marshall on a marhsalled plane.Quotas don't really solve the lack of officers though - it just gives them a reason to do their darn job [grin]I guess we should be glad nobody has gotten shot in the head for this yet. But I still would like to know what the higher-ups were thinking.   ;  It just seems, for practical purposes, it would have to have innocent people on it. Presumably the guilty people would be a jail and thus not flying. At best it would be an arrest on sight list for the guilty rather than a tell them to go rent a car list. Airport security is a joke. It always has been. It always will be. It's a dog and pony show for the public like the duck and cover campaign of the cold war.Just as an example they prohibit lighters and various other things. So you go through security, they find one of these things and seize it. You had to show a boarding pass to get through security, you had to show id to get the boarding pass, the boarding passes are electronically readable. Do they record who they ceased anything from? Assuming these items are in fact dangerous then just how many tries does a terrorist get to get one onto a plane? Apparently until, through shear repetition, someone notices they keep seizing the same items from the same person. Undoubtedly should someone notice there is no procedure for them to actually do anything about it.There wouldn't be a single Vegas casino still in business if they ran security this way.   ;Original post by SticksandStonesQuote:Original post by Avatar GodWell, I understand why quotas exist for traffic violations - in a city with more than fifty traffic cops, it's nearly impossible to handle it differently without major budget changes, but quotas would be entirely unreasonable in this case. It's unlikely that there will be one terrorist per month, per marshall on a marhsalled plane.Quotas don't really solve the lack of officers though - it just gives them a reason to do their darn job [grin]Yeah, I mainly meant that there's a lack of ability to effectively oversee the officers, and the quotas step in to take the place of constant IA investigations into whether or not half the force is drinking coffee instead of patrolling.