From today's Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Man with gun at Hartsfield passes detector
Staff reports and wire services
A Tennessee man with a handgun in his pocket walked through a metal detector at Hartsfield International Airport undetected, despite beefed-up security there.
Atlanta police say Charles Hildreth, 63, of Collegedale, Tenn., had passed through a metal detector and was on Concourse C when he realized he had the loaded .22-caliber pistol in his pocket. He flagged down a Delta Airline representative for help, according to a police report on the incident.
Hildreth, who had a permit to carry the weapon, told authorities he had brought it into the airport by mistake. Hildreth told police he walked through the checkpoint Sunday afternoon and the warning machine did not go off.
Hildreth, an insurance agent, was charged with having a firearm in a prohibited area, a misdemeanor, and released.
Lanii Thomas, spokeswoman for Hartsfield, said that the airport's metal detection equipment was tested and determined to be working properly.
"It's an isolated incident as far as I know," she said Monday night. "I don't have any information as to how it happened."
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Oh, I feel so much safer now.
:disgust:
I swear, they really need to do something in the way of a MAJOR overhaul of airport security and those who actually do the screening. I mean, here in Atlanta, the kids doing the screening basically had a choice between that and flipping burgers...this is not exactly their dream job, so do they really care if they overlook the odd knife (or PISTOL) here and there? The company that manages many/most of the security in airports has been fined millions over the years for various violations (like hiring security workers with felony records), the jobs pay for $hite so the turnover is like %100, some received training as minimal as a 45-min videotape whereas customs officers have to go through something like a 6-week training course..etc, etc. I say place the security under federal jurisdiction so we at least have semi-trained folks waving the wands.
Fausto
Man with gun at Hartsfield passes detector
Staff reports and wire services
A Tennessee man with a handgun in his pocket walked through a metal detector at Hartsfield International Airport undetected, despite beefed-up security there.
Atlanta police say Charles Hildreth, 63, of Collegedale, Tenn., had passed through a metal detector and was on Concourse C when he realized he had the loaded .22-caliber pistol in his pocket. He flagged down a Delta Airline representative for help, according to a police report on the incident.
Hildreth, who had a permit to carry the weapon, told authorities he had brought it into the airport by mistake. Hildreth told police he walked through the checkpoint Sunday afternoon and the warning machine did not go off.
Hildreth, an insurance agent, was charged with having a firearm in a prohibited area, a misdemeanor, and released.
Lanii Thomas, spokeswoman for Hartsfield, said that the airport's metal detection equipment was tested and determined to be working properly.
"It's an isolated incident as far as I know," she said Monday night. "I don't have any information as to how it happened."
-------------
Oh, I feel so much safer now.
:disgust:
I swear, they really need to do something in the way of a MAJOR overhaul of airport security and those who actually do the screening. I mean, here in Atlanta, the kids doing the screening basically had a choice between that and flipping burgers...this is not exactly their dream job, so do they really care if they overlook the odd knife (or PISTOL) here and there? The company that manages many/most of the security in airports has been fined millions over the years for various violations (like hiring security workers with felony records), the jobs pay for $hite so the turnover is like %100, some received training as minimal as a 45-min videotape whereas customs officers have to go through something like a 6-week training course..etc, etc. I say place the security under federal jurisdiction so we at least have semi-trained folks waving the wands.
Fausto
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