In Reply to: Dps Airport Security posted by aussieinbali on Sunday, 17. September 2006 at 16:11 Bali Time:
airport is that its all a bit hit and miss. We went through one night when the world cup was on and all, yes all, the security officers were grouped around a ground floor tv and there were no checks done even on people coming through the front door or as you went through into the departure lounge and onto the plane! And, I think that the public patdown before people get on the plane in itself creates a situation of risk. If there was a person who was genuinely intent on blowing themselves up or injuring others in some way, I doubt that they are going to stand politely while their pockets and socks are checked especially when they have an entire room of potential victims sitting right there. Then theres the scanning of luggage. Have you ever seen anyones luggage seriously stripped down? I havent. I've seen nail scissors and box cutters confiscated and the occasional rifle through of peoples dirty laundry but never any serious inspection of the actual bags themselves. I've also seen Indonesian men successfully argue their luggage through when its been held up at the front door scanner. And dont forget how the porters are often allowed to push their way through with packages and bags without having any of it scanned.
It seems to me that the scanning and checking is for show and its the intelligence gathered and work behind the scenes by the different police forces and ant-terrorism task forces around the world that is more likely to impact on the safety of air travel.