IP: Contact info incl if you need it -- Woman contends that officials did nothing about airport frisking

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_978447,00
> .html
>
> Woman contends that officials did nothing about airport frisking
>
> By Ann Imse, News Staff Writer
>
> Gay Unglesby says she walked down the jetway at Dallas-Fort Worth
> International Airport to her Denver-bound flight in tears Dec. 26, after a
> male Argenbright screener's frisking went way over the line.
> The kind of groping Unglesby says she endured can be found under in
> Colorado's criminal code under the description for minor sexual assault.
>
> But from Dec. 26 until Friday afternoon, no matter where she complained, no
> one took notice.
>
> The Federal Aviation Administration did nothing -- even though a sympathetic
> listener on its complaint hotline said the FAA has received hundreds of such
> complaints, Unglesby said.
>
> Argenbright Security sent her to its insurer -- and he was just rude, she
> said.
>
> Delta Airlines employees who saw her immediately after the incident were
> sympathetic, and the airline has sent her a formal apology. Delta's customer
> care staff "was empathetic and appalled but told me it was out of their
> control," Unglesby said.
>
> The Department of Transportation did nothing. Unglesby said a DOT official
> told her there was no law forcing the airlines to use same-sex screeners for
> frisking.
>
> No one offered to fix the problem.
>
> Unglesby says she didn't think to call the district attorney or police and
> ask that criminal charges be filed against the screener.
>
> The Association of Flight Attendants also has complained to the DOT about
> its members being inappropriately touched during frisking. A spokeswoman
> said they received a letter from DOT Secretary Norman Mineta saying DOT had
> told airlines and airports fondling and groping is wrong -- but they were
> still awaiting action.
>
> When the Rocky Mountain News earlier this week called about Unglesby's
> complaint, FAA spokesman Paul Turk said his agency had received only 18
> complaints about screener groping -- not hundreds. He said most were minor.
>
> Unglesby's complaint was not among the 18 he found.
>
> Turk also ducked responsibility. "An allegation of this nature is an issue
> for the airlines," Turk said. "Any action we would take would be against the
> airline, not the individual."
>
> That all changed late Friday -- after the attorney general of Arizona went
> public Thursday with the 48 complaints of molestation by airline security
> screeners that her office has received.
>
> Turk found an FAA rule requiring airlines to use a person of the same sex
> for pat-downs.
>
> "If we believe it was not done properly, we can levy a significant fine on
> the airline," he said. If a person is groped by a screener, he or she should
> report it to the airline or the local police, he said.
>
> Hours later, Mineta upped the ante.
>
> "The secretary of transportation takes allegations of this nature with the
> utmost seriousness," spokesman Lenny Alcivar said late Friday. "The DOT will
> fully investigate any and all allegations that are made to the department."
>
> Alcivar said the DOT had received four complaints, in addition to 18 found
> by the FAA, which is part of the DOT.
>
> But Alcivar admitted that the department has many places to make a
> complaint. Allegations this serious should be sent to the DOT Aviation
> Consumer Protection Division at airconsumer () oct dot gov, he said. And he
> promised to personally check on Unglesby's complaint.
>
> The DOT takes over airport security screening from airline contractors in
> just eight days. From Feb. 17, the federal government will ensure that all
> frisking is done by a person of the same sex -- though it won't shut down
> security, he added.
>
> Using screening as an excuse for sexual groping "will be a fireable
> offense," he said.
>
> Unglesby said her case occurred in the secondary security check at the gate,
> after she'd already been through the standard screening for everyone. Her
> body did not set off the wand, but the man insisted on frisking her anyway,
> said the software consultant who is temporarily living and working in
> Denver.
>
> "I said, 'You have no business doing that. You need to get a woman to do
> that,' " Unglesby said. "He told me there was no woman available." So she
> consented.
>
> The frisk up her legs turned into a solid grope, she says. She started
> crying almost immediately and complained to a Delta employee. A flight
> attendant and pilot were kind. One spoke to the screener, who insisted he'd
> done nothing.
>
> "My fear of flying today is not to get on an airplane and the airplane is
> going to blow up. My fear of flying is what I have to go through to get on
> that airplane," she said.
>
> The Arizona attorney general is investigating the 48 complaints it has
> received and will refer appropriate cases for criminal prosecution, said
> spokeswoman Pati Urias.
>
> "Since Sept. 11, people may have tolerated this kind of behavior because
> they thought they couldn't complain," Urias said. "What's offensive is there
> are some people who are appearing to take advantage of the situation," she
> said.
>
> Urias read from the National Law Enforcement Policy Center guidelines for
> police frisking of suspects: police should only feel outer clothing, and go
> into a pocket only if they believe they have felt a weapon. Police are
> supposed to pat down only where there is reasonable suspicion of a threat to
> safety, and they are to be in pairs, so that one officer can guard his
> partner.
>
> "And these are people who are suspects, not passengers who have already been
> through security screening," she said.
>
> Delta Airlines and Argenbright Security did not return calls late Friday.
>
> Contact Ann Imse at (303) 892-5438 or imse () RockyMountainNews com.

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