#security theatre

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.

[ohboy]

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Used at St. Vincent-de-Paul: Metal scanners for airlines?" Montreal Star. September 11, 1970. Page 27. ---- By DUNCAN HAIMERL ---- Airlines, faced with considering more stringent security checks, could adopt prison-type metal detectors to check for weapons on passengers.

But some of the devices, while ideally suited for prison conditions, may mean extra difficulties for airline staffs.

The common one used in prisons is a personnel scanner which an inmate walks through. Any metal on his person is indicated by a bell and a more thorough search is carried out to find the object.

Any metal unfortunately means just that, and the metal can include a zip per, a ring, a watch or a pen as well as a knife or similar weapon.

However, a trained person might be able to tell just how much metal is there and a high meter reading and steadily-ringing bell could mean a gun.

Jean Page, director of the Special Correctional Unit at St.-Vincent-de-Paul Penitentiary his Rens Personnel Scanner, an eight-foot high walkthrough machine does the prison job with ease.

"But we know what the inmate is wearing," he said. "What will they do on the airlines? Ask all the passengers to wear coveralls with nylon zippers? I don't think it's what they want."

A smaller hand-held metal detector may be the answer, he said, because it's held against the person's clothing and indicates where exactly the metal is and roughly how much there is.

Sensitive enough to detect a dime in a person's hand or pocket, the Transfrisker emits a varying tone de pending on the size of the metal object and could check luggage for large metal objects.

Some airlines already use a type of metal detector for passengers and lug- gage but officials were hesitant to point out what type they used.

Suggestions were made that fluoroscope or x-ray machines could be used. However, this could mean passengers would be given above-normal exposure to the machines, with uncertain health effects.

Two Canadian suppliers of the metal detection units said they have not been contacted by airlines since the recent rash of hijackings prompted tighter security measures.

But they added they would be ready to co-operate with the airlines' requests. Some checks may be made with airlines already using the devices to determine their suitability and also see whether design changes must be made.

NEW USE FOR METAL DETECTORS? How prison-type metal detectors could be used for checking for guns on plane passengers is demonstrated by Edgar Robitaille, assistant security chief of the Special Correctional Unit at St. Vincent-de-Paul Penitentiary, and reporter Duncan Haimerl. In background is an eight-foot high walkthrough detector called a Rens Personnel Scanner.

Staff Photo by Gerry Davidson

[situpontheground]

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[twofingerswhiskey]

security theatre at a self-checkout

The more I exist, the more I find loopholes in things in society that are entirely based on theatre. It’s hard to explain, but basically, you are to assume certain things about society and limits to what is right and wrong - not morally, just what to do in a certain situation. But as an autistic person I sort of exist standing outside of that and looking in. I don’t know exactly what to do in every situation and thus I find loopholes in this sort of... polite society we’ve all agreed upon.

In a chain pharmacy I go to, there are 3 self-checkout machines in the middle of four other normal checkouts. The normal human checkouts face each other, and the middle self-checkouts face away from the doors.

So, sort of like this.

The tills closer to the exit are usually open as they are simply the first ones the cashiers get to through their little entrance gates, and also have more room to stretch out and sit down on a stool. The ones closer to the self-checkouts, in full view of the screens, are not staffed. I’ve never ever seen them open even in a rush, because it’s cramped and awful.

The self-checkouts had to be wired up in place of where a fifth checkout used to be, when the store opened not a year prior.

Are you following me here?

Consider the lines of sight. The back of the self-checkouts is just a big divider wall you can’t see through. Even if they craned, the cashiers could not see the self-checkouts. This specific model of checkout machine does not record you, as it’s a pharmacy and medical privacy is a concern. I know that’s why because I asked the girl I went to high school with who now works stocking the shelves.

Following me yet?

There is nobody watching the self-checkouts.

“Oh, but -” you say. “Security cameras!”

And I know they aren’t watched at all, not even on fast-forward the morning after. Too much shit to do, the girl said. She brought it up because the damn things made the lights flicker sometimes due to the shoddy building wiring.

If there’s a police incident, maybe they grab the single hour when it happened. But what useful info would a camera show? It can see... the back of the self-checkouts, the side. The one behind me is at such an angle that a huge display of chocolate and seasonal decor obscures it.

I know these employees well, nice older women who are empty-nesters now, and high school graduates with no other job opportunities. A guy who worked at a camera store before this for 30 years, and a few older Russian immigrants. Typical Canadian spread of employees.

I also used to work down the road from this pharmacy, before it was ever built, at a hockey/curling arena. I know all sorts of tills, checkouts, and the like. 

Well... let me tell you a story, with all of that info tucked away nicely in your brain.

I first used these checkouts a few months ago and ran into an error as the machines didn’t recognise a code on something I was buying. It lit up the little red lightbulb and the single employee on duty was too busy helping an older woman bag her stuff. Dull night, not a lot going on. I noticed a little X in the corner, like a computer would have. And something clicked.

It was so easy to steal from this... they just trusted you wouldn’t.

They didn’t weigh anything in the bagging area. This machine was essentially the exact system I cashiered with at the arena, and it was piss poor. It was just Windows 7 Enterprise, running a virtual tablet interface from a simple command prompt. They just changed how it looked to the customer, but I’d used this sucker before and I knew its workings.

The light turns off after I press X. And... it just goes to the start screen again.

So, I figure, I’ll try again. It scans right this time, and I buy my stuff. I think, okay, problem solved, tap my card and am on my way.

I realise it never offered to give me a receipt and walk back to it. It’s at the start, fresh and waiting for another customer.

So, I check my email for a bank statement... which is usually instant. Nothing. The next day? Nothing. The next week? Nothing. It turns out if you hit that X, and continue purchasing, it doesn’t register the damn purchase.

My mother was aghast and assumed that meant the beepers at the door went off. She had been taught all her life that if you steal, the alarms sound. I had to explain to her that this is another aspect of theatre. She’s even worked as a cashier in many a store and didn’t know that 99% of all merchandise is bought with the expectation a few of each shipment will meet a five-finger discount. The barcode does not get magically scanned by a magnetic sensor (that weird thing next to doors at shops) it’s simply looking for stuff that hasn’t had its magnetic field neutralised.

(I had bought a coat like that once as a kid, from Zellers. I had to stop wearing it as there was nothing I could do, damn thing was demagnetised five times and still beeped.)

I don’t condone wantonly stealing for fun (if it’s for formula, food, or medical needs, go ahead, just my opinion) - but if your shit is so badly secured that I accidentally steal... upgrade your fucking systems, guys.

A few other things I realised upon other trips there:

It sometimes scans seasonal items as other items, for other seasons. This cannot be corrected even on their staff computers because it’s an issue with a database that they do not directly control. I got a light-up ghost that registered as a paper skeleton model for back-to-school.

The power supply buttons are fully visible and available to employees... or anyone who wants to use them for whatever reason, such as voiding a purchase.

The employees genuinely do not like the self-checkouts as they took away someone’s job and the ability to have conversations with the middle till worker. They do not give a shit what happens to the checkouts.

The scanners can even scan a UPC off of a computer screen - they encourage it to scan your points card (which can be used for discounts) and there’s no way for the cameras to know you’re just scanning something cheaper over and over and not just scanning your points card. I tested this (cancelled the scan right after it happened, of course) and it worked.

It sometimes doesn’t register an item at all if it’s brand-new to the market as the system updates once a month, if that. Manually entering it somehow negates “rounding up” (the way Canadian currency is after the penny was taken out) - so something for $3.48 will not round to $3.50 at the till if you manually type in the UPC.

[the-diabolic-acid]

instead of discussing 9/11 let’s discuss the tsa who have failed completely to catch a single terrorist, when tested missed 95% of fake bombs and weapons but woo thank god im safe from scary water bottles and styrofoam swords

[sky-blaze]

YorkShire Cosplay Con and Sheffield Arena Screw Over Con-goers

So Sheffield Arena and Sheffield Cosplay Con have piled on so many 'security' restrictions that lots of people can no longer attend. Bags are no longer allowed. Prop weapons are not allowed. External food and drink is - you guessed it! - not allowed.

A lot of people have been forced to drop the event as a result. Are Sheffield Arena or Yorkshire Cosplay Con offering refunds? Nope.

I realise it isn't entirely the organisers fault, since they are following 'set-in-stone' instructions from the police and home office, but refusing refunds is just disgusting.

I'm not even going, but I'm annoyed and disgusted on behalf of people that are.

As a friend said I’m sure that banning large bags and externally-bought food and drink has NOTHING to do with how much money the Arena makes off concessions.

It was also pointed out that nothing like these measures has been put in place for MCM London or Birmingham, both of which happened last weekend and are were MUCH larger than YCC

[ohboy]

Hourly Comics: Reformatted! It's more legible and concise now!