Racial profiling rife at Boston Logan Airport, according to federal officers

[marmar]

from the NYT:



BOSTON — More than 30 federal officers in an airport program intended to spot telltale mannerisms of potential terrorists say the operation has become a magnet for racial profiling, targeting not only Middle Easterners but also blacks, Hispanics and other minorities.

In interviews and internal complaints, officers from the Transportation Security Administration’s “behavior detection” program at Logan International Airport in Boston asserted that passengers who fit certain profiles — Hispanics traveling to Miami, for instance, or blacks wearing baseball caps backward — are much more likely to be stopped, searched and questioned for “suspicious” behavior.

“They just pull aside anyone who they don’t like the way they look — if they are black and have expensive clothes or jewelry, or if they are Hispanic,” said one white officer, who along with four others spoke with The New York Times on the condition of anonymity.

The T.S.A. said on Friday that it had opened an investigation into the claims. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/us/racial-profiling-at-boston-airport-officials-say.html?_r=1

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. excellen comment following the article

Let's see--if you are black and dressed casually, you look suspicious. But you are also suspect if you are black and wear expensive clothes and jewels. And if you dress practically and casually for a flight (i.e, in sweatpants and t-shirt) and you're black, well, you're still suspect. What should black folks wear that won't make them suspect? Why am I even asking?

[HopeHoops]

2. I ran into that when they called it "airport security" - and I'm a caucazoid.

I've got a small amount of Native American blood that's clearly resurfaced in the DNA through me (and to my youngest daughter through me). I change race in the summer. Combine that with the fact that I look like Tommy Chong and I just set off the "FRISK THIS GUY" alarms every time I went through Logan. Hell, I didn't even run into that in Texas! This story does not shock me in the least. I preferred to fly out of Manchester, NH (if possible). It was closer and parking was cheap and I never got messed with there on any flight. Logan's nasty.