Secondary Security Screening Selection
Secondary Security Screening Selection, known by its acronym SSSS, is an airport security measure in the United States which randomly selects passengers for additional inspection. The procedure is meant purely to enforce any existence security procedure and/or to work along with additional security measures. According to the TSA and airlines, the process is random and follows certain pre-determined guidelines and is not based directly on the passenger nor the so-called No Fly List.
How does it work?
The system works by selecting passengers who meet certain criteria at the time their boarding pass is issued. According to sources, the following are some of the points observed to assign a passenger with SSSS:
- One-way tickets,
- Passengers traveling alone,
- 2 passengers,
- Passengers traveling together who shared certain characteristics such as last names, nationalities, etc;
- Passengers traveling as a group,
- Tickets bought last minute,
- Tickets bought at the airport,
- Passengers who used the kiosks,
- Passengers who carry no luggage,
- Passengers who pay cash for their tickets,
- Random selection in its entireness.
Since neither the TSA nor the airline run a background check at the time boarding passes are issued, it is said that immigration status, criminal, or travel history are not taken into consideration to be assigned SSSS. Personal information is not taken into account either; so names, addresses, employment history, medical records, DMV, and any other collection of personal information is not taken into consideration nor cross-examed for assignment and in actuality may not be readably available to government officials to amplified the scrutiny of the process. This is why the process is considered as random rather then objective.
Procedure when selected
Passengers that have been tagged for this special treatment will receive the letters SSSS (all capitals) printed on their boarding passes. This will prompt the TSA agent conducting ID and boarding pass check to instruct the passenger to either proceed on a different selectee line or standby for inspection. Then, the passenger will usually go through additional screening which may include walking through the newer puffer detectors which examine for possible explosive residues and explosive material within the person. Their carry on luggage, besides from running through the X-ray machine, may be inspected by hand in which a TSA agent will physically open the passenger's bag and inspect its contents. In occasions, the agent may instruct the passenger to open the bag him or herself and retract some or all contents out while the agent observes the items being taken out and the nature of the bag's interior. The agent may choose to have the passenger handle his or her bag rather than the agent do it him or herself to avoid damaging the contents or causeprivacy concerns to the passenger as passengers may carry sensitive contents in their carry-on such as undergarments, condoms, female products, etc. In any case, the agent must always see the contents so the passenger cannot avoid the agent seeing something intimate. In the case of film or other items that cannot be ran through X-ray, the agent may perform a test for possible explosive materials. The agent may also use the magnetometer to pat down the passenger to check for metal objects.
Randomness
Since the process acts on the accumulation of certain criteria rather then mathematical probability, it is expected that subjects may be elected more than once or more often then others. This has cause the public to believe the process is not random but instead discriminatory. In reality, it is a selective process in which candidates who fall under a pre-determined category are chosen. Nonetheless, the process may rely, intermittently, in randomness, when subjects do not fall under any category and this becomes the mathematical variable.
Views
Many passengers have complained about just how effective this procedure is since the proccess is conducted mostly in a randomly fashion, it may be seen as almost pointless since authorities have no real intelligence on the subject. Also, since the majority of passengers are not selected for SSSS, this may debilitate the purpose of additional inspection by a portion or entirely. Supporters of the process say since it is a random procedure, it is done not to make sure all passengers who may pose a threat be identified but to aid in the screening of passengers boarding an aircraft and thus, reduce the possibility of a threat boarding at all. Some passengers who have gone through this procedure have found it convenient by helping them moved through security faster than the rest of the passengers who must wait to go through regular security. Others passengers have found it as an extra load of inconvenience in combination of all the inconvenience created by airport security since at times these passengers may be held longer to conduct their extra screening and other passengers may feel unease by receiving the tag of "extra care, please", per say.