American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox is not happy about the Transportation Security Administration removing small knives, along with bats and other items, from its prohibited items list.
“Any knife, regardless of blade size, can be used as a weapon. TSA has created a situation where [transportation security officers]will be required to discern the length and width of a knife blade in a very short period of time. Disagreements over the TSOs’ determination as to whether the knife will be allowed through checkpoints may result in a confrontation. Far too often, TSOs are threatened and even assaulted by irate passengers at the checkpoint; this ambiguous new policy will only escalate those incidents. In addition, TSOs face possible discipline from an increasing number of checkpoint disputes surrounding the new policy.
He said TSOs have been injured and even assaulted with items smaller than the 24 inch novelty bats now allowed.
