TSA: ‘More Intimate’ Pat-Downs Are Coming Soon To An Airport Near You (VIDEO)

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has decided that the TSA needs to streamline the way it does pat-downs at airports across the country. In the past, TSA agents could choose between one of five pat-down options if a traveler opted for that route instead of the body scanner, or if the passenger was randomly selected for a pat-down.

Now, there will be one universal pat-down, and passengers can expect it to both slow them down a bit more than usual, and be a little more invasive.

According to Bloomberg, TSA agents at the Denver International Airport were told to expect these pat-downs to be:

…More rigorous… [They] will be more thorough and may involve an officer making more intimate contact than before.”

Bruce Anderson, a spokesman for the TSA, issued a statement about the updated protocols:

I would say people who in the past would have gotten a pat-down that wasn’t involved will notice that the [new] pat-down is more involved… For the person who gets the pat-down, it will slow them down.”

There is no word on what exactly a “more intimate” pat-down entails, including whether or not it involves touching a passenger’s genitals. When the phrase “intimate contact” is used, however, there is little other room for interpretation.

These updated protocols stem from a 2015 study conducted by the Department of Homeland Security. During the study, several airport officials missed handguns and other weapons that DHS agents attempted to bring through security checkpoints. The report also helped eliminate passengers’ ability to “prescreen” through flights at peak airport times.

The TSA and their handling of airport pat-downs is frequently cited as many passengers’ least favorite thing at the airport. One famous example came just a few months ago, when CNN‘s Angela Rye is seen being visibly brought to tears during her invasive airport pat-down.

Watch that video from Inside Edition below, and get excited about an even more intimate TSA:

Featured Image: Screenshot By TSA Video Via Wikimedia Commons/CC0 1.0.