Quota system for Air Marshal Surveillance Detection Reports?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Drzyzgula <bob () drzyzgula org>
Date: July 25, 2006 10:25:37 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: Quota system for Air Marshal Surveillance Detection Reports?


http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/9559707/detail.html

| DENVER -- You could be on a secret government database or
| watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some
| federal air marshals say they're reporting your actions
| to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it.
|
| The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed,
| told 7NEWS that they're required to submit at least one
| report a month. If they don't, there's no raise, no bonus,
| no awards and no special assignments.
|
| "Innocent passengers are being entered into an
| international intelligence database as suspicious persons,
| acting in a suspicious manner on an aircraft ... and they
| did nothing wrong," said one federal air marshal.
|
| These unknowing passengers who are doing nothing wrong
| are landing in a secret government document called a
| Surveillance Detection Report, or SDR. Air marshals told
| 7NEWS that managers in Las Vegas created and continue to
| maintain this potentially dangerous quota system.
|
| [...]
|
| That's why several air marshals object to a July 2004 memo
| from top management in the Las Vegas office, a memo that
| reminded air marshals of the SDR requirement.
|
| The body of the memo said, "Each federal air marshal is
| now expected to generate at least one SDR per month."
|
| "Does that memo read to you that Federal Air Marshal
| headquarters has set a quota on these reports?" Kovaleski
| asked.
|
| "Absolutely, no doubt," an air marshal replied.
|
| A second management memo, also dated July 2004, said,
| "There may come an occasion when you just don't see
| anything out of the ordinary for a month at a time, but I'm
| sure that if you are looking for it, you'll see something."
|
| [...]


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