Rochester, N.Y. -- She says she had no warning that someone
was going to search her car after she left to catch her flight. So the woman
contacted News10NBC.
We found out it happened to her because she valet parked her
car. Those are the only cars that get inspected.
So if security feels it is necessary to search some cars in
the name of safety, why not search all of them?
Laurie Iacuzza walked to her waiting car at the Greater
Rochester International Airport after returning from a trip and that's when she
found it -- a notice saying her car was inspected after she left for her
flight. She said, “I was furious. They never mentioned it to me when I booked
the valet or when I picked up the car or when I dropped it off.”
Iacuzza's car was inspected by valet attendants on orders
from the TSA. But why only valet parked cars? That's what News10NBC wanted to
ask the TSA director about. We reached
him by phone.
Berkeley Brean asked, “Are the cars in the short term lots
and long term lots getting searched as well?”
John McCaffery, TSA, said, “No, those vehicles that are in
the garage, short term long term parking, even if they carry pretty large
amounts of explosives, they would not cause damage to the front of the airport.
But for those who use the valet, the car could be there for a half hour or an
hour so there is a vulnerability.”
News10NBC went to the valet parking and one of the
attendants showed us the notice they put in the cars.
We asked, “You're required, they tell you, you have to
search the car?” Valet Parking Attendant Frank Dettorre said, “I have to do
it.”
We also noticed a large sign that alerts customers that their
vehicle will be inspected. The sign is on the kiosk window. Iacuzza says it was
not there when she dropped off her car. “I think the public should be aware of
the fact that if their car is going to be searched, they should be informed of
it.”
Iacuzza said she doesn't mind the security measure. She just
wants to be told if her car is getting searched.
News10NBC asked the owner of the company that runs the valet
parking when they put up the sign but he wouldn't answer.
TSA says this is part of its overall security plan and that
it's a proactive move. The attendants said they've only been doing it for about
a month.
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