Despite acknowledging there are “no credible or specific threats” to the safety of the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Sunday, the TSA is training thousands of fast food sellers to spot terrorists under the “First Observer” program.
“TSA said over 8,000 stadium vendors, parking lot attendants, shuttle bus drivers, and other transportation professionals received the agency’s First Observer training for detecting and assessing indicators and planning tactics of potential terrorist activities,” reports Government Security News.
As we have previously reported, many of the behaviors characterized as potential signs of terrorism by the TSA in its training procedures are mundane activities performed by a majority of people, including using a video camera, talking to police officers, wearing hoodies, driving vans, writing on a piece of paper, and using a cell phone recording application.
“According to TSA, Super Bowl fans may encounter TSA Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams at local transportation venues, including commercial and general aviation facilities and mass transit,” reports GSN.
VIPR’s presence at the big game again illustrates the expanding scope of the deployment, under which TSA agents have been tasked with shaking down Americans at everywhere from bus depots, to ferry terminals, to train stations, in one instance conducting pat downs of passengers, including children, who had already completed their journey when arriving in Savannah.
The TSA yesterday denied a report out of WPRI that full body scanners would be used on fans entering the stadium, but reiterated that they would be in use at the nearby airport and also made reference to other “security issues” being coordinated with stadium venue security and local law enforcement.
Fans attending the game will be subject to a full body pat down and have been warned that most items being brought into the Lucas Oil Stadium will be confiscated.
2 Responses
with the TSA’s record for spotting old ladies as terrorists, their training the high intelligent hot dog vendors should give us a real bonus in security. Hot Dog!!
If only TSA could train the people in the airports. Or maybe just bring in the hot dog vendors…they couldn’t be much worse.