Are 'enhanced pat downs' taking airport security too far?

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - The American Civil Liberties Union is questioning the propriety of stepped-up security checkpoint procedures at airports in Boston and Las Vegas.

The Transportation Security Administration says screeners at Logan International Airport are testing what one official called an "enhanced patdown" technique. It lets screeners use a palms-forward, slide-down search procedure on passengers' bodies.

It replaces the former back-of-the-hand patdown for passengers who don't want to go through the airport's full-body scanning machines.

The TSA says the new procedure is also being tested at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas before a planned national rollout.

The Massachusetts ACLU questions whether the new technique is effective enough to justify what it calls a "seemingly constant erosion of privacy."

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Information from: Boston Herald, http://www.bostonherald.com