The diaper caper

Posted at 12:29 PM on June 27, 2011 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

On its website today, the Department of Homeland Security touts the week it had at the nation's airport screening areas:

** 3 artfully concealed prohibited items found at checkpoints
** 12 firearms found at checkpoints
** 9 passengers were arrested after investigations of suspicious behavior or fraudulent travel documents

And one adult diaper!

Jean Weber of Destin, Florida says her mother -- 95 years old and 105 pounds -- was detained a week ago while on her way to Michigan to be with her family during her last stages of leukemia. The problem, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported, was her adult diaper.

She said her mother was first pulled aside into a glass-partitioned area and patted down. Then she was taken to another room to protect her privacy during a more extensive search, Weber said.

Weber said she sat outside the room during the search.

She said security personnel then came out and told her they would need for her mother to remove her Depends diaper because it was soiled and was impeding their search.

Weber wheeled her mother into a bathroom, removed her diaper and returned. Her mother did not have another clean diaper with her, Weber said.

Weber said she wished there were less invasive search methods for an elderly person who is unable to walk through security gates.

"I don't understand why they have to put them through that kind of procedure," she said

The Transportation Security Administration says everything was done by the book.

Comments (1)

There's a special place in hell for authorities who always "do things by the book."

Posted by Jim Shapiro | June 27, 2011 3:48 PM

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