BETTER MAKE SURE YOU SMILE TSA plans higher fines for passengers with "bad attitudes"

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Big fines for banned items at airports




Bad attitude could raise fines

WASHINGTON (AP) --Anyone trying to sneak a knife onto an airplane could be 
fined $250 and a passenger with an explosive could get as much as $10,000 
under new guidelines.

Thousands of airline passengers board planes every year carrying banned 
items such as cuticle scissors, box cutters and guns.

Tom Blank, assistant administrator for transportation security policy, 
testified before Congress last week that the Transportation Security 
Administration has intercepted more than 1,650 firearms, more than 3 
million knives and more than 57,000 incendiary devices since shortly after 
the terrorist hijackings on September 11, 2001.

"Fines may help awaken a sleeping population here," said David Stempler, 
president of the Air Travelers Association.

"We have too many examples of people inadvertently bringing a gun in their 
carry-on."

When Congress created the Homeland Security Department last year, it raised 
the maximum fine for trying to carry prohibited items through airport 
security from $1,100 to $10,000. The TSA, which became part of Homeland 
Security, issued the guidelines on Wednesday spelling out the range of 
fines applied to each violation.

Mark Hatfield, TSA spokesman, said the new schedule of fines shows that the 
agency is serious about keeping dangerous items off planes. "'I forgot I 
had the gun in the bag' is not an acceptable excuse," he said.

The guidelines list aggravating factors, such as "attitude" and "artful 
concealment," that can bring a heftier fine.

Though bringing a prohibited item to a checkpoint is illegal, fines won't 
be levied on everyone who inadvertently tries to bring a pair of cuticle 
scissors or a cigarette lighter through airport security.


Prosecution and appeals

The guidelines call for going easy on children, inexperienced flyers or 
people who disclose that they are carrying something they shouldn't.

"We're looking for weapons, we're not looking for scissors," Hatfield said.

Airline passengers carrying banned items can be prosecuted either for civil 
or criminal violations.

If TSA screeners catch someone committing a criminal act, such as carrying 
a concealed weapon or assaulting a screener, they'll call local law 
enforcement officials.

Those accused of a civil violation will receive a notice of violation and 
an option sheet in the mail. They get a 50 percent discount on the fine if 
they pay within 30 days.

Those who want to appeal the fine have several options, including a hearing 
before a Coast Guard judge.

Hatfield said the TSA can't say how many people have been fined because the 
databases for its legal department were moved and aren't accessible right now.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/02/18/air.passenger.fines.ap/index.html

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