End Intrusive Airline Passenger Searches

We, the undersigned members of the traveling public, object to searches by Transportation Security Administration personnel in which passengers genitals, buttocks, or breasts are touched or viewed. Often passengers have no choice but to accept this degrading treatment to avoid missing flights, and often passengers who do reasonably and legitimately object are singled out for even more degrading treatment in retaliation. The policy of groping passengers does not make us safer and is not justified by any conceivable existing threat.

We demand that TSA personnel be prohibited from conducting intrusive searches of passengers, unless a passenger triggers the metal detector without an explanation, such as the documented presence of an implanted medical device. In the event that a passenger does trigger the metal detector without an explanation, he/she should be offered a search conducted in private by a member of the same gender, with a second member of the same gender, or another person of the passengers choosing, present as a chaperone. If the passenger misses a flight as a result, arrangements should be made to transport the passenger and anyone traveling with him/her to their destination as soon as possible and at no additional expense.

We also demand that members of the public wishing to register complaints against TSA personnel or procedures be offered the identification numbers of all personnel involved, and be given a toll free phone number which they can call to register a complaint without fear of retaliation. TSA personnel should be prohibited from retaliating against passengers for any reason, including the voicing of complaints.