In the wake of recent claims of an inappropriate airport security strip search by an elderly New York woman, U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY.) and New York state Senator Michael Gianaris called on the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to start employing “Passenger Advocates,” at airports in the United States.
The goal of having the advocates would be to allow passengers an authority to submit complaints to if they feel they have been inappropriately searched by TSA agents.
Recently, Lenore Zimmerman, an elderly woman from Long Beach, NY, accused TSA agents at JFK airport of inappropriately strip searching her. Reportedly, Ms. Zimmerman refused the standard TSA full body scanner because she believed it would interfere with her implanted heart defibrillator.
Ms. Zimmerman claims that the TSA agents then took her into a private room and undressed her, and injured her while doing so.
TSA has since refuted the claims, saying that they do not conduct strip searches, and that they handled the situation properly.
However, Sens. Schumer and Gianaris have called for an investigation into the woman’s claims, and are now urging TSA to start hiring passenger advocates to work at airports throughout the U.S.
While the safety and security of our flights must be a top priority, we need to make sure that flying does not become a fear-inducing, degrading, and potentially humiliating experience,” Mr. Schumer said in a press release posted to his website Monday.
“Right now, passengers who feel that their rights are about to be violated have nowhere to turn, but by training passenger advocates at each of our airports, the TSA can finally give passengers a voice,” the New York Democrat added.
According to their website, TSA started using the full body scanners several years ago to address “evolving threats to aviation security.” The full body scanners are optional, and passengers who refuse to go through them can receive alternative screening methods or a full body pat down.
Ms. Zimmerman claimed that she asked for the pat down option but was instead strip searched, and that her metal walker struck her leg making her bleed as she was allegedly strip searched.
Mr. Schumer and Mr. Gianaris say that employing the passenger advocates will allow TSA to address similar concerns in a structured, reasonable way.
“We must use common sense as we preserve safety,” Senator Gianaris said Monday.
“There is no good reason why an individual should be violated in such an outrageous manner. I appreciate the TSA’s work to keep air passengers safe, but passengers should not be humiliated and degraded during their travels,” Mr. Gianaris added.
