# "Must Show Identification" -- How Does This, In Itself, Help Security? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916 "2005-06-04T19:31:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/41 "2005-06-08T01:45:46Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Aaaand apparantly you don’t like them either :rolleyes: No, actually I almost got arrested at the US-Canada border for laughing and making a smart comment when they suggested that my then 18 month old needed to be checked for weapons. There was no place on herbig enough to hide a weapon! I am sorry if it came across as a killjoy comment. Which I suppose it was. The fact that a joke can get you arested just really pisses me off and I couldn’t help it. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/42 "2005-06-08T02:49:02Z")
> [@Harriet the Spry](#): > > A couple of incremental benefits: it allows them to screen for specific bad guys they are looking out for… How so if they do not check your ID against a list of bogeymen? ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/43 "2005-06-08T02:50:40Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > No, actually I almost got arrested at the US-Canada border for laughing and making a smart comment when they suggested that my then 18 month old needed to be checked for weapons That sounds like an empty threat of arrest. What would they have charged you with? ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/44 "2005-06-08T02:53:26Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > We have a winner in this answer. I have not seen any security precautions publicly implemented since 9/11 that do anything real to improve security. Feel good “We’ve got to do something to protect our phoney baloney jobs!” type action. On the other hand they did catch that British geezer a couple of years back trying to board an aircraft with explosives in the heel of his shoe. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/45 "2005-06-08T03:00:45Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > How so if they do not check your ID against a list of bogeymen? Depending on how long the list is and who is on it, they might very well be. They need not necessarily compare your name and picture to a name and picture on a checklist they keep in their other hand. Also, if they are on the lookout for a suspected middle-eastern terrorist, I seriously doubt that James or Heinrich or Akira are going to get more than a glance to make sure they didn’t just flash their library card to try and sneak into the courthouse. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/46 "2005-06-08T03:02:27Z")
1. Almost all people who check IDs think they are a _lot_ better at detecting “strange behavior” than they really are. Overestimating ones abilities is a _decrease_ in security. In addition, you have to put up with a lot of false positives. I know a lot of black people who were pulled over (and sometimes even arrested) simply because they were a block or two away from a recent crime. 2. The Really Good Bad Guys can talk their way thru anything without the security guy realizing a thing. Think of Ollie North types. Americans in particular fall for “sincere” types. I am in the middle of reading Mitnick’s [The Art of Deception](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471237124/102-8149345-1169718?v=glance) and it’s amazing. I think **Uncle Beer** should read it. ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/47 "2005-06-08T03:40:43Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > That sounds like an empty threat of arrest. What would they have charged you with? Interference with official acts is always a popular one. If you piss off authority figures, they can arrest you for almost anything. Charges don’t always stick, but they can arrest you. ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/48 "2005-06-08T03:45:02Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > On the other hand they did catch that British geezer a couple of years back trying to board an aircraft with explosives in the heel of his shoe. You mean this guy? > **[News](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/?xml=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F03%2F01%2Fnshoe01.xml)** > > Latest breaking news, including politics, crime and celebrity. Find stories, updates and expert opinion. As near as I can tell, he was arrested 2 years after he decided NOT to go through with a bombing plot. Caught by detective work, not an ID check at an airport. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/49 "2005-06-08T04:07:28Z")
> [@glee](#): > > When you enter the US, do they still ask you if you intend to overthrow the Government by force? DS-156: Nonimmigrant Visa Application: > [@](#): > > Do you seek to enter the United States to engage in export control violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful purpose? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization as currently designated by the U.S. Secretary of State? Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of Germany; or have you ever participated in genocide? Yes/No ---
**Author:** ![Sxyzzx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sxyzzx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sxyzzx)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/50 "2005-06-08T04:27:26Z")
I wonder if anyone has ever checked yes. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/51 "2005-06-08T05:28:27Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > Interference with official acts is always a popular one. If you piss off authority figures, they can arrest you for almost anything. Charges don’t always stick, but they can arrest you. Really? I didn’t realise that. When did the US turn into the Soviet Union? ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/52 "2005-06-08T05:35:18Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > You mean this guy? > [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/01/nshoe01.xml](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/01/nshoe01.xml) > As near as I can tell, he was arrested 2 years after he decided NOT to go through with a bombing plot. Caught by detective work, not an ID check at an airport. No I mean this one: [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-01-29-reid\_x.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-01-29-reid_x.htm) But it looks like I was wrong anyway. He was arrested after being overpowered on board the aircraft so it looks like he got through the airport security. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/53 "2005-06-08T14:48:34Z")
> [@Sxyzzx](#): > > I wonder if anyone has ever checked yes. Given that a lot of the people filling out the form aren’t native speakers of English, I bet it happens failry frequently by accident. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/54 "2005-06-08T16:47:07Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > Really? I didn’t realise that. When did the US turn into the Soviet Union? You didn’t realize that if you annoyed an officer you could be arrested for disturbing the peace or resisting arrest or …whatever? Trust me, this is not new news. And we’re not the Soviet Union (sic) but we’re not angels either. (I once was arrested for jaywalking and spent four hours in jail, but that’s another story. Don’t piss off a motorcycle cop.) ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/55 "2005-06-08T19:51:02Z")
> [@Sxyzzx](#): > > I wonder if anyone has ever checked yes. How about the security guy who has looked at hundreds, or thousands of these questionnaires, and by the end of the day, his head is buzzing and locked onto seeing just ‘no’ answers? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916/56 "2005-06-08T23:30:07Z")
> [@ltfire](#): > > How about the security guy who has looked at hundreds, or thousands of these questionnaires, and by the end of the day, his head is buzzing and locked onto seeing just ‘no’ answers? On a lot of questionaires like that which I’ve seen, there’s usually a “yes” sprinkled in there to make sure the test-taker is paying attention. Usually mutually contradictory with one of the “No” questions. Also, the one “yes” answer should normally stick out anyways, just because you haven’t seen it in a while. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-show-identification-how-does-this-in-itself-help-security/306916.md?page=2)