Overzealous Airport security wrongly confiscate my item?

akira181

I flew back from holiday in Germany to Edinburgh via Birmingham and I got onto the plane in Germany without any issues. For years I was flying 2 to 3 times a month in my previous job and in Birmingham, never have I seen airport security so unorganised, incompetent, and each one of them on a total power trip.

(Bit of a rant, so the spoiler bit isn't fully relevant to my question)

I landed in Birmingham and somehow ended up land-side and had to go through security again. The staff there were extremely rude with the left hand not knowing what the right was doing; one person was shouting at people to go to one security queue and then someone at said queue shouting at the people that arrived as the that security aisle was closing and sent them back. I finally get to the front and I see they're complaining about "non-approved" zip-lock toiletry bags and literally throwing "approved" bags at people and barking at them to transfer the contents into it. Same thing happened to me, even though my “non-approved” bag was from Edinburgh airport on the way out and all I had in there was a tube of toothpaste and roll-on deodorant.

Anyhow, I get through the metal detector, it goes off and I get body scanned. They feel round my ankles and swab my shoes, which tests positive for TNT. I take them off, they poke around, stick them through the metal detector, swab my feet and boots again and eventually tell me it was a false positive. I’m not surprised but while I was waiting, I found 2 coins in my back pocket, which was probably what set the detector off in the first place and wasn’t checked at all.

I go to get my bag back from the conveyor and they’re already rummaging through it, with the duty free cigs I bought in Germany in his hands. I get his attention and ask why he's going through my bag without me. He tells me something suspicious came on the scanner and they have the power to open bags and other scripted BS. I tell him the receipt for the cigs are still in the duty free bag with the cigs and he puts them back in the tray.

Now my brother enjoys a puff now and again and collects grinders so I always get him one when I’m on holiday. I walked past a shop that had one and stupidly bought it without thinking as it was shaped like the part of a revolver that holds the bullets with imitation bullets in it. The guy looks at it, smells it, eventually agrees that it’s not been used but goes and speaks to his colleague. I can just about make out what they’re saying and basically he’s asking if it’s allowed and she says something along the lines of she’s not sure so just confiscate it and puts it aside. The guy tells me I can’t fly with it so it’s being confiscated and then pushes my tray towards me and walks off.

I pack my bag but wasn’t leaving without answers so I get his attention again. This time the lady comes over and tells me that imitation weapons, even plastic squirt guns, are not allowed. I argue that it’s not an imitation weapon, it doesn’t project anything nor does it look like a complete gun. Even if it were a real gun part, how would it even function as a weapon? She just tells me it’s the rules and I can speak to her supervisor if I like, which I did.

Obviously, the supervisor didn’t even look at the grinder and just took the side of his staff. He said that it’s in the CAA rules that they can confiscate anything they don’t like the look of. I ask isn’t that too vague and shouldn’t all airports be playing from the same rulebook since I flew from Germany without issue? He says he can’t comment on other airports and says I can check the CAA rules. Having wasted enough time and seeing that they were never going to admit fault, I ask if there’s a way they can post it to me and the supervisor tells me there’s a mail-it-on service for a fee, which I agree to. The lady scowls at me and reluctantly throws it in a clear bag and gives me a tag to sort out postage later.

My question is, was the supervisor correct in that they can confiscate whatever they want? If so, how does a rule that vague offer any sort of consistency between airports and stop idiots on a power trip?

NoodleDoodleMan

https://www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions/ammunition

I reckon an imitation revolver cylinder could be considered a component part of a replica firearm.

Was there not a police officer on duty to give an authoritative opinion ?

tacpot12

I think you are wrong in thinking that there has to be any consistency here. The rules are written to allow the security staff to act with discretion. This automatically means that there will not be any consistency; and the law makers were happy with that when the made the law.

bagand96

Not sure you'll get any resolution that you are satisfied with here.... but Birmingham Airport has a complaint procedure https://birminghamairport.custhelp.com/app/complaint/p/3

Poster above makes a good point about consistency. Although there are many DfT/EU/International rules and regulations to follow, the process is also designed with a certain amount of INconsistency... the more uniform and rigid process is, then the easier it can be for people to deceive it.

akira181

I get that it's at their discretion but when you get one on a power trip, common sense goes out the window and you've got no recourse as a supervisor will never go against their staff in front of you.

Nail clippers, disposable razers, Gillette replacement razer heads, a plastic hook on my toiletry bag are all items I travel with regularly and at one point or another has been confiscated by airport security.

What do they think is going to happen with stuff like that? Someone malicious with a pen can do more damage. You get pint glasses post security. 1st class and business class passengers get metal cutlery with their inflight meal.

Without some sort of baseline consistency between airports, you never know if you're going to get hassle going through security or not. Sometimes it feels like the system is just there to mess with you and make you waste money on travel sized stuff.

TELLIT01

From watching various TV programmes with border forces, I'm surprised that any of them would permit any item which looks like, or could be mistaken for, a weapon got past them. The item was not wrongly confiscated.

akira181

TELLIT01 wrote: »

From watching various TV programmes with border forces, I'm surprised that any of them would permit any item which looks like, or could be mistaken for, a weapon got past them. The item was not wrongly confiscated.

My point is that it doesn't look like a weapon, it looks like a small part of a weapon. There's no handle or barrel. Even if the part was real, it would still be useless as a weapon and a pair of high heels would be more effective. Granted, if I spent more time thinking about it rather than just getting souvenir gift shopping out the way, I wouldn't have bought it and waited till I walked past a different shop.

Various programmes like Border Forces and are pretty staged. I was once walking home and there was a TV crew outside with a police van blocking my street and they asked were I was going. I told them I lived on the street they were blocking off and they asked me to go straight home and not talk to anyone. I walked passed a couple of people standing in a doorway chatting casually and thought nothing of it.

Soon as I entered my building, I heard them start shouting, police sirens come on, the van drives 20m down the road and out jumped 2 policemen and a cameraman to "arrest" the "criminals".

jonesMUFCforever

On its own it might not work but lets suggest that 3 or 4 of you travel, each of you with one part then meet up and put it all together?
Am I being over zealous - yes of course I am but it won't get your goods back.

akira181

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

On its own it might not work but lets suggest that 3 or 4 of you travel, each of you with one part then meet up and put it all together?
Am I being over zealous - yes of course I am but it won't get your goods back.

That's true I guess, but what are 3 or 4 of us going to do with a grinder? It's not like additional bits can be attached.

I got it bagged and tagged so I can use the mail-it-on service to get it back for a fee, which they were not forthcoming about and seemed rather upset that I requested it like they were expecting me to just leave it. However, the mail-it-on team say they haven't received anything yet and it may have gone missing.

Feeds my suspicion that the airport security just wanted to steal it from me while using the vague CAA rules as cover. Going by how intently he was looking at my duty free cigs (which were in a sealed duty free bag that he opened before I got there), he probably wanted them too if he could have thought of a reason.

Time will tell if it turns up or has gone "missing"

TELLIT01

The grinder is drug paraphernalia and is just as liable to be confiscated as weapons, real or imitation. The alternative would be to inform the authorities at your arrival airport, and have you detained for drug search there. I can almost hear the snap of the rubber gloves. :-)

akira181

I've purchased and least 20 grinders for my brother over the years from Europe, the US and as far as New Zealand and never once had an issue having it in my hand carry. As long as it's not been used, they got no reason to take it. No denying that the shape of this one was going to attract unwanted attention but I just got the first one I saw. Would have presumed common sense would have ruled it out as a possible weapon but that's my fault for expecting that of airport security of all people, especially when these ones couldn't even talk to people like they were human beings.

I would be less annoyed if the attitude of airport security wasn't so rotten. Rude from the get go, going through my bag and opening shop sealed items without me present, confiscating the grinder without explanation, affronted when I asked for an explanation, not telling me they had a mail-it-on service, and then a look of contempt when I asked to use said service and now it's disappeared. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if they stole it.