Apparently, for about a month, the TSA at Rochester International Airport in New York have been ordering valet attendants to search valet parked cars for explosives. They’re required to search the trunk and the engine and then scan the interior. They say it only takes 30 seconds, so it should be no big deal. Yeah, but we’re talking about the TSA here. Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile. Sure, it might be 30 seconds now, but just wait. Soon, it’ll be 30 minutes, and they’ll be tearing up people’s cars looking for the slightest indication that someone might be a drug dealer or terrorist. For “national security” purposes, of course.
A local NBC affiliate reported on what happened that brought this new policy to light:
“Laurie Iacuzza walked to her waiting car at the Greater Rochester International Airport after returning from a trip, and that's when she found it – a notice saying her car was inspected after she left for her flight. She said, ‘I was furious. They never mentioned it to me when I booked the valet or when I picked up the car or when I dropped it off.’ Iacuzza's car was inspected by valet attendants on orders from the TSA.”
The TSA say they order these searches for valet parked cars only. Greater Rochester’s TSA Federal Security Director John McCaffrey said that they don’t search the ones in the parking garage, since even if one of those cars had a large amount of explosives, it wouldn’t do any real damage to the airport. But for the valet parked vehicles, they’re parked closer and may only be parked there for 30 minutes or an hour and therefore pose a more viable threat.
