New Exit Portals at the Syracuse Airport
- Thread starter newworldafro
- Start date
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/syracuse_airport_exit_portals.html
NBC News: Do Syracuse airport's new exit portals mark arrival of police state?
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- In a brief segment on NBC Nightly News this evening, anchor Brian Williams drew attention to the puzzling, futuristic new exit portals at Syracuse Hancock International Airport, saying critics are calling them the "official arrival of the police state.''
This still image from a video by NBC News shows the exit portals at Syracuse airport.NBC
But to Syracuse aviation commissioner Christina Callahan, they are just fancy doors that will save the airport money.
As part of a $60 million renovation this year, the Syracuse airport installed exit portals that passengers must pass through to depart the airport. Passengers enter a see-through, elevator-like enclosure as one door closes behind them, then wait up to a few seconds until a green light flashes and the door in front of them opens to let them out. "You're not allowed to just leave the airport,'' Williams reported.
Callahan said the purpose of the portals is only to prevent anyone from coming back the other way into the terminal area, without passing through the normal security checkpoints for passengers boarding flights. The portals do not scan passengers as they exit. "It isn't another layer of screening that passengers go through to leave the airport,'' she said.
Installing the portals has allowed Syracuse to eliminate a security job at the exit lanes, which formerly were monitored either by a TSA employee or an airport security officer, Callahan said. Over the long run, the airport will save money as a result, she said.
Atlantic City's airport also has exit portals, Callahan said. Other airports are expressing interest, because TSA recently announced that it will no longer provide security for airport exit lanes, she said. "We've had inquiries from other airports about how they work,'' she said. "They're working great."
Some passengers find them puzzling the first time through, however. "It's a learning curve,'' Callahan said.
TSA Rolls Out ‘Detention Pods’ at Airport Terminal Exits
Making you feel like a prisoner who cannot leave
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
November 18, 2013
The TSA is funding the rollout of exit pods at major airport terminals across the country that temporarily detain passengers before they are allowed to leave, another example critics say of how the federal agency’s policies treat travelers as prisoners.
Travelers are forced to be bottlenecked through the pods as they leave the airport terminal. A robotic voice gives instructions to wait inside the pod until a green light is shown and the door opens.
The pods have already been installed at Syracuse International Airport as part of a $60 million dollar renovation and are likely to make their way into other major airports soon. Once travelers exit the pods, they are unable to re-enter the terminal.
Some of the passengers exiting through the pods at Syracuse thought the machines were performing x-ray body scans, according to CNY Central.
“It was odd, I was like – where did they come up with this?” asked Patricia Goodrich.
“We need to be vigilant and maintain high security protocol at all times. These portals were designed and approved by TSA which is important,” said Syracuse Airport Commissioner Christina Callahan.
The justification for installing the pods is that they replace police or security guards who would normally stand at the exit, therefore saving money, something which the TSA isn’t normally concerned about given how it is now selling abandoned naked body scanners to prisons for 10 per cent of their value.
According to Karen De Coster, the pods are a way “to remind you that you are a captive” and are “meant to make you feel like a prisoner who cannot leave.”
The prison inmate feel of the devices compliments numerous other TSA policies which critics have charged serve little other purpose than making travelers feel like they are under constant suspicion.
Last week, a Government Accountability Office investigation revealed that the TSA’s $1 billion dollar “chat down” program has been a complete failure in that it is “no better than chance” at identifying genuine security threats.
While threatening to arrest passengers who make jokes about airport security, the federal agency has also instituted a ludicrous “freeze” policy whereby travelers are ordered to stand in place like statues while TSA agents resolve some unexplained security threat.
Travelers are forced to be bottlenecked through the pods as they leave the airport terminal. A robotic voice gives instructions to wait inside the pod until a green light is shown and the door opens.
The pods have already been installed at Syracuse International Airport as part of a $60 million dollar renovation and are likely to make their way into other major airports soon. Once travelers exit the pods, they are unable to re-enter the terminal.
Some of the passengers exiting through the pods at Syracuse thought the machines were performing x-ray body scans, according to CNY Central.
“It was odd, I was like – where did they come up with this?” asked Patricia Goodrich.
“We need to be vigilant and maintain high security protocol at all times. These portals were designed and approved by TSA which is important,” said Syracuse Airport Commissioner Christina Callahan.
The justification for installing the pods is that they replace police or security guards who would normally stand at the exit, therefore saving money, something which the TSA isn’t normally concerned about given how it is now selling abandoned naked body scanners to prisons for 10 per cent of their value.
According to Karen De Coster, the pods are a way “to remind you that you are a captive” and are “meant to make you feel like a prisoner who cannot leave.”
The prison inmate feel of the devices compliments numerous other TSA policies which critics have charged serve little other purpose than making travelers feel like they are under constant suspicion.
Last week, a Government Accountability Office investigation revealed that the TSA’s $1 billion dollar “chat down” program has been a complete failure in that it is “no better than chance” at identifying genuine security threats.
While threatening to arrest passengers who make jokes about airport security, the federal agency has also instituted a ludicrous “freeze” policy whereby travelers are ordered to stand in place like statues while TSA agents resolve some unexplained security threat.
Another policy that has provoked questions is the TSA’s random testing of passengers’ drinks for explosives after they have already passed through security and purchased beverages inside the secure area of the airport.
info wars
instead of spinning it into a conspiracy, lets talk about the waste of taxpayer dollars
hilarious .......you are partially right.. I give you that ..you ignoring the bigger picture, the goal is to have this at more airports and probably more facilities in general ......and the contractors/companies doing this are going to make ridiculous dough ........ is this what we need to go as a society is the question??
the article and video explicity state the goal of this was to save money for the security at the exit gates as part of a $60 million dollar "enhancement" of the airport..... so now you know their financial perspective (excuse)....
Yup, I'm always ignoring the bigger picture, you got me!
What a funny sort you guys are.
Hey... you are constantly being proven wrong for underestimating policy .....too many threads to name ...... I'm just trying to help you out breh...
I always said that no one would ever need to get PAST security to carry out a terrorist attack. Just the general terminal alone would be disastrous.