I think this thing boils down to reasonable suspicion. The current blanket abuse is unacceptable…
Its not that we should be profiling per se…it is that we should be looking for reasonable suspicion.
Is your name Muhammad? Well based on the numbers if this is your only strike, not so reasonable to have suspicion.
Is your name Muhammad Muhammad, are you a 20 something traveling alone, are you flying from yemen on a cash one way ticket, and tend to mutter Allah Akbar when you are in large goups?…Now it is starting to add up to reasonable suspicion. Maybe it would warrant a couple extra questions and a strip search if you are acting particularly shifty.
Conversely are you a 9 year old girl flying from Omaha to st. paul to visit your divorced father…probably not reasonable suspicion.
Cops use this criteria everyday when they pull someone over. Is it to much to ask of the TSA to apply that very same articulate-able criteria?
