Body_Scanners_and_Pat_Downs

“To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race” Calvin Coolidge. As the Constitution states the government is run by the people for the people. Its purpose is to protect its people,their freedom, their welfare, and improve their life. A new controversy has emerged that discusses the use of body scanners in airports along with intensive pat downs. There are people claiming that these procedures are violating the Constitution and therefore should be deemed unconstitutional. They have been placed in airports to fulfill the promises of the United States Constitution. They have been placed there for protection and nothing more. Therefore, intensive pat downs and body scanners must be implemented in all airports because they are in no way violating the privacy of people, they can detect more objects than the other methods, and they are completely safe. The TSA, Transportation Security Administration, did not want to give too much information about how the scans and pat downs work to protect the technology but they did state, “Passengers should continue to expect an unpredictable mix of security layers that include explosive trace detection, advanced imaging technology and canine teams, among other.” (Gary) The government and TSA are trying to prevent any more attacks from happening therefore the element of surprise and extra caution becomes really important. Especially at a time of war like the United States is currently facing not only in the Middle East but also on its war against terrorism. Al-qaeda and his followers are trying to bring down the freedom of the citizens of the United States. The scanners are body scanners are around the size of portable toilets. Passengers stand in front of the machine for about 10 seconds with their hands over their heads to scan their entire body. The scanner then produces a black and white image (Stanton). These scanners have begun to emerge in airports all over the world. After the horrifying terrorist attacks of 9/11 security in airports increased along. The government also funded more projects that developed safety security such as these body scanners. People were a little confused at how they work but once provided with the appropriate information , according to a USA Today/Gallup Poll 78% of Americans said that they approved of the scanning machine. Furthermore, 84% of those surveyed stated that they believed that the scanners would help prevent terrorists from attacking and blowing up planes (Stanton). The strongest opposition that these scanners are facing is that they can are a violation of people's privacy. For example, a spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union protested “That degree of examination amounts to significant and for some people humiliating assault on the personal privacy to which travelers in a free country should not automatically be subjected” (Stanton). These scans are there to protect the people and are placed in order to keep this country free. Also, these scanners were designed to protect the privacy of people. For instance, the body scanning process is done by two people. There is an airport worker who helps the person that gets scanned and there is a person who sees the images of the scan from a separate room. That person has not contact with the person being scanned (Stanton). Therefore, the person who is seeing the images has no idea who the person is. Also, on October 26, 2001 President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into law. He gave more power to the government to catch the terrorists and protect the people who are working against them. It was signed into law after the 9/11 terrorists attack and since then the government has gotten more access to the specific information of it is people. After the terrorist attacks The Department of Homeland Security was developed. It works by being the middleman between the CIA, Central Intelligence Agency and the FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation. All the information acquired because of the Patriot Act is used and analyzed by them (Scheppler 29-30). In order to keep the images more private the scanners blur out the genitals, breasts, and face of the people. It also is viewed by someone who is trained. The image cannot be saved nor copied (Carafano). If seeing a nondescript image was controversial the new pat downs are though to be complete violations of people's rights. Pat downs have been around for quite sometime but these pat downs are different because they allow the screeners' hands to go more in depth. The screeners are permitted to touch more sensitive areas such a s a woman's breast and the genitalia (Gary). Plus, if someone like a maniac or a terrorist wanted to hide something they would need to hide it someplace where they believed they would not be checked. It is really hard to argue against the fact that bombs and other weapons can hidden in clothing. The pat downs and scanners are the only way to see past clothing. “Richard Reid's shoes and now Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's underpants have put that argument to rest” (Carafano). In order to keep objects from being taken on a plane this intensive method has been used. The pat downs unlike the scans are not mandatory. “The person is first given the chance to go through the body scanners. If they choose not to do so they are then told they need a pat down. If however something does show up on the machine the person will be asked to do a pat down” (Gary). When people started to refuse the scans another method had to be put into place. These pat downs are not humiliating nor problematic because the job is done by a professional. The airport workers undergo training procedures to instruct them on how they should behave themselves. It is quite evident that privacy is not a problem with these machines and the pat downs. Yet they still are the best method available in detecting objects. “Regardless of advances in technology the people who operate the equipment are the last and best line of defense against the introduction of any dangerous object into the aviation system” (Egendorf). Through the pat downs can not detect everything they do help fill in the gaps of where the scanner or other technologies may be lacking. “The scanners can see through clothing but they also a see past one tenth of a person's skin. Therefore objects hidden in the crevices of the body cannot be detected” (Hanni). These scanners are not completely fool proof but they do create generally good images. They can however do a better job than the current explosive detecting machines, metal detectors, and dogs. Dogs can not find metallic objects nor guns. The can also tire quickly, cause problems, and scare people. Other detectors are too slow and the ones that are used to detect explosives also will not identify those objects. Metal detectors will not detect explosives nor powders. (Carafano). People will never be happy with the techniques being used. They try to find whatever they can to go against what they believe is wrong. The newest attack against the body scanners is that they can release harmful radiation. Pilots and frequent fliers are claiming that the increased expose to these machines can become harmful to them (Extreme Airport). These claims however are not true because the image is created with waves that give out radiation less then x-rays. It is logical that people worry about the exposure due to the news of radiation in Japan but they have nothing to worry about. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a medical doctor at the University of California, San Francisco and Pratik Mehta of the University of California, Berkeley stated in a new study, “The radiation doses emitted by the scans are extremely small; the scans deliver an amount of radiation equivalent to 3 to 9 minutes of the radiation received through normal daily living” (Trumbull). Many other scientists have backed up this research and have repeated the experiments. The company that creates the machines Rapiscan has released information about them not being dangerous (Stanton). The world is a dangerous place and unless its inevitable everything should be done to protect people. Implementing body scanners and pat downs in all airports is the best way to protect the people because they themselves are not in any way violating the rights of the people, they are the best available method and they are not harmful to those who have to frequently use them. The government, the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and airports are all working together to catch the terrorists from getting even close to airports. They also will continue working on new technologies and adding new layers of technology to improve the security in the airports. As for now every method that is at the airports disposal should be used to prevent anything as terrible as the 9/11 attacks, the Pan am attack, and the Christmas bombing from happening ever again. Works Cited Carafano, James Jay. "Should the TSA Rely Upon Full-Body Scanners' YES."U.S. News Digital Weekly 2.2 (2010): 10. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. Egendorf, Laura K. Terrorism: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2004. Print “Extreme Airport Safety.” Nightline from ABC News. ABC News, Seattle, 18 Nov. 2010. Youtube. Web. 16 Sept. 2011. Gary, Stroller. "TSA's new pat downs raise concern."USA Today n.d.:MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. Hanni, Kate. "Should the TSA Rely Upon Full-Body Scanners' NO."U.S. News Digital Weekly 2.2 (2010): 10. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 12 Sept. 2011. Scheppler, Bill. The USA Patriot Act: Antiterror Legislation in Response to 9/11. New York: Rosen Pub., 2006. Print. Stanton, Kate. “Airport Body Scanners: Security or Invasion of Privacy. PBS.org. Web. 12 Jan 2010. Trumbull, Mark. "Full-body scanners pose 'exceedingly small' radiation risk, says new study." Christian Science Monitor. 28 Mar. 2011: N.PAG. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 6 Oct. 2011.