Protecting the nation while thwarting terrorist plots has taken on a whole new meaning when going through airport security.
New Transportation Security Administration screening protocol is balancing the rights and privacy of the individual with the safety of the traveling public.
TSA spokesman Luis Casanova told FOX 34, "Every time that the terrorist organizations come up with another way to kind of penetrate our security and put our traveling public at risk, we need to evolve to meet that threat."
Ever since 9/11, protection of the American public has been scrutinized and reorganized.
Now the possibility of terrorism is resulting in more thorough searches, that include every nook and crannie.
Lubbock International Airport Aviation Director James Loomis said, "It galls me that we can't use advanced interrogation techniques on people we know are trying to do harm to us, and yet we can presume every citizen who flies and goes through a checkpoint at an airport is doing something they shouldn't do."
Many major airports are now equipped with Advanced Imaging Technology, or AIT, in an effort to thwart evolving threats to aviation security.
But some areas, like Lubbock, are not equipped with AIT capabilities. So if you set off the magnetometer repeatedly, it's very likely you'll be on the receiving on of a thorough body search.
Casanova said, "It is meant to address the areas of the body that would be seen through AIT technology. Remember, one of the reasons for the enhanced pat-down, it comes into play when an individual decides they want to opt out of advanced imaging technology, which is meant to see through the clothes and to those areas of the body where explosives and explosive paraphernalia could be hidden. So if the person opts out, which is their right to do, the alternative is a thorough screening that includes an enhanced pat-down."
Casanova says that pat-down will be performed by a same gender TSA officer, and the passenger has the right to a privacy screening behind curtains or in a room.
Loomis says the new procedure is unacceptable.
"This pat down, they're touching genitalia and it's wrong. It's just absolutely wrong. For these people to be doing this, first of all, they're not law enforcement personnel. There's no reason to be touched by anybody. There's no probable cause just because you bought an airline ticket."
Casanova says the pat-down procedure is one of several deterrents the TSA uses against terrorist organizations, and that the TSA will continue to use all available methodologies unpredictably, to keep the traveling public safe.
Loomis says his greatest concern is that fewer people will fly as a result of this new frisking method.
He says he's heard from several travelers who say they will no longer fly because they don't want to be touched by strangers.
If you feel you've been treated inappropriately, you can ask for a supervisor, or call customer relations at any TSA checkpoint and file your complaint.
