We’re trying something new here at AMB, shorter issue-oriented things where we hope to get a lot of discussion, in between the longer stuff we usually post, but which take a long time to write. Better known as actually blogging, I suppose.
To this end, I offer the very first one, the Carol Gotbaum case. Gotbaum was an alcoholic from Upper West Side Manhattan, traveling through Phoenix to Tuscon to go to rehab (it’s where everyone who is anyone these days goes). Depressed, relapsed (i.e., drunk) and facing the… insanity of modern air travel, she freaked out in the Phoenix airport. She got hauled off in cuffs. She died in her cell. Beyond that, wait for the inquest?
We discussed the issue of police brutality a fair bit over the last few months with Andrew “Don’t Tase Me, Bro” Meyer and that guy with a totally unpronounceable last name from UCLA, plus another one with a case from St. Louis. Now we’ve got Carol Gotbaum. Here’s the NY Times story and Judith Warner’s blog, which had some very interesting commentary. Some questions, then:
- Was this brutality?
- What should have happened here?
- Being honest with yourself, what do you think you would have done?
- Just how petty are airline bureaucrats these days, anyway?
- Would you pay more for a plane ticket if you got better service? (Carol Gotbaum got pretty much the worst service possible.)
Have at…. I’m sure there are some other good links to this one, too.
The 12 Angry Men Blog 
October 17, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Ugh, sounds like a mess.
It’s odd for me to say anything positive about airport security, as I consider airport security screenings to be both the most inane and yet one of the most frightening things that I have ever experienced. I’m not someone who’s particularly gifted at keeping his mouth shut in the face of stupidity, and yet I know that one cross word with a TSA inspector about the pointlessness of shoe screenings and 1-quart plastic bags full of 3-ounce bottles could land me in a world of trouble. The experience is insulting to me as an intelligent human being and depressing to me as a freedom-loving American.
On the other hand, there’s nothing petty about handcuffing someone who is drunk, screaming, and throwing things. If you did that at a shopping mall or an office building and yet refused to leave, they’d probably call the cops then, too, and you’d get hauled down to the nearest police station and tossed in the drunk tank until you sobered up. Someone should get in a lot of trouble for failing to keep an eye on her in the cell, but someone should also get in a lot of trouble when an obviously unhinged prisoner gets left alone and manages to commit suicide in any jail cell.
As Bruce Schneier pointed out in regards to the TSA “sippy cup incident” back in June, most of us seem very eager to believe that the TSA inspectors are a bunch of evil goons. He suggests that the problem is that the whole security screening process is so mystifying and obtuse that we have no choice but to fear it and mistrust everyone associated with it.
So, the Carol Gotbaum case does have something to do with flying, after all. Airports and the security screenings that overshadow every passenger’s flying experience today are intimidating enough to push every one of us a little closer to the edge. Apparently, the current security policies are enough to push a few people all the way off of the edge.
Now, I don’t believe that national policies should be driven by isolated incidents, whether the isolated incident is a shoe bomber or an alcoholic mom. Still, I think it’s worth asking whether any benefit comes from making airport security policies so arbitrary and rigid in the first place.
October 17, 2007 at 9:41 pm
TSA’s rigid policies make sense if you look at the real premise. The issue isn’t to prevent terrorism, or at least isn’t primarily so. If that were the case then TSA would be implementing El Al screening policies. No, the primary reason is to induce into the flying population the belief that flying is safe from terrorist activities. Thus, the more intrusive and overt the activities, the safer Grandma feels.
Any seasoned traveler can identify massive holes in TSA security procedures. We used to pass the time between flights in the LA International terminal in the Singapore Airlines lounge, which happened to overlook the screening area, scoring the screeners. If one of us could in ten seconds come up with a way for the current subject undergoing screening to get a bomb past the screener we would get a point. We ran up very high scores.
So what is occurring is primarily psychological manipulation in support of the Airlines marketing effort.
October 17, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Clearly TSA screeners are ‘fascists’ (troll troll).
October 17, 2007 at 10:11 pm
A number of semi-connected points:
(1) Why in God’s name was Ms. Gotbaum traveling alone?
(2) Airline employees in my experience are usually pretty good but some airlines massively overbook and then lie about it to their customers. I wonder if she was flying US Air, which has become notorious for Kafkaesque bureaucracy, where employees routinely “act up” because of the insane work environment they live in… yup. Note to self: NEVER fly US Air. (After a bad experience on United several years back where they lied to me about why the flight didn’t go, they are on my shit list. US Air is going on pre-emptively.)
(3) The poor lady was basically on the precipice and ready to get pushed over; unfortunately that’s what happened. I recall being bumped from a flight once when I was going to a job interview… I was not a happy camper, to say the least. Fortunately the gate crew managed to get me to where I needed to go only a few hours late, but it wouldn’t have been fun to say “Yeah, I want to get there, but I can’t because I’m stuck in an airport several hundred miles from where I need to be for the interview, sorry.”
(4) I agree with APO that most security procedures these are bullshit. Liquids… yeah, right. My impression is that right after a policy is implemented the TSA guys are hyper, but they usually cool down a few months in. I wonder what Kool Ade they are forced to drink?
October 17, 2007 at 10:15 pm
October 18, 2007 at 7:11 am
Why is this titled “Rent-a-Cop” brutality?
1) first of all, anyone who watched the video tapes can see there was no brutality involved, and this situation did not involve TSA or “rent-a-cops” – the officers involved were fully certified and trained police officers with Phoenix PD who were on airport duty.
2) the videos show they did things “by the book” – they only responded to Gotbaums continued out-of-control behavior, just as they are trained to do – to prevent injury to bystanders or themselves.
3) when dealing with an out of control, abusive individual, it is not standard operating procedure to babysit them in the holding cell, so they can continue to abuse you, scream at you, spit at you, etc. The individual is left alone so they can (hopefully) calm down.
3) the ones who truly share the blame on this sad deal, are Gotbaum’s family (why on earth would they let her travel alone if she was that close to the edge?), and Gotbaum herself. If she wouldn’t have freaked out and spiraled out of control, she would no doubt still be alive today.
October 18, 2007 at 7:42 am
It’s premature to assign blame in this situation. The final autopsy report, including toxicology, is not yet available. Nevertheless, this posting demonstrates bias in its inaccurate title. As the comment above states, the TSA did not arrest or detain this woman. Likewise, the phrase “rent a cop” usually describes low-paid, minimally trained security guards, and no individuals meeting that description were involved. Instead, this arrest was handled by the Phoenix Police Department, which maintains a bureau at Sky Harbor Airport. Opinions may vary as to how appropriately the police handled this incident, but let’s not confuse the Phoenix PD with the TSA or insult Phoenix PD officers, two of whom have been murdered in the line of duty this year, by calling them “rent a cops.”
Likewise, it’s unclear if US Airways, regardless of its reputation, is to blame. There’s been some outcry about overbooking, but US Airways maintains simply that Gotbaum arrived at the gate too late for her flight and then tried to get on a second flight by swapping boarding passes with another passenger, a practice that should never be allowed because it would result in an inaccurate passenger manifest.
This case deserves more scrutiny, but hasty condemnations of the police, US Airways, and even the Gotbaum family are all inappropriate. Let’s wait for all the facts to emerge before assigning blame.
October 18, 2007 at 8:49 am
Safety is an illusion. The notion that security screenings perform a function would be laughable if it was not for the phenomenal amount of time, effort, and resources wasted on an ultimately pointless and insulting policy. One that I would venture to call ‘Un-American’, a term I normally loathe to apply to anything.
Personally I feel they are engaged in illegal searches and seizures (I want my god damned pocket screwdriver back you bastards!).
October 18, 2007 at 9:10 am
Hopefully, an investigator will help us find out what really happened.
I’m sorting out facts and those who have something to lose in this, (gotbaum’s dead, even if the gobaums sue, it won’t bring back their wife and mother) are definitely slanting their story in their favor. If USAIR arrived at the gate at 12:21 ..and ms. gotbaum was to change planes for the USAIR express to Tucson, which leaves at 1:13, how long would that take? She arrived at the gate at 1:05..too late to board.It is only 3 gates down, but assuming she stopped to buy food or drink in Roadhouse 66, how does it appear she got drunk? Why is everyone saying she was drunk? We are talking 34 minutes total here.
October 18, 2007 at 9:17 am
[…] mildlypiquedacademician wrote a fantastic post today on “Airport Rent-a-Cop Brutality? The Carol Gotbaum Case”Here’s ONLY a quick extractDepressed, relapsed (ie, drunk) and facing the… insanity of modern air travel, she freaked out in the Phoenix airport. She got hauled off in cuffs. She died in her cell. Beyond that, wait for the inquest? … […]
October 18, 2007 at 9:27 am
To say that Carol Gotbaum showed up with someone else’s boarding pass, is quite a stretch at hiding what really transpired. She was denied standby, the plane was overbooked, she had already missed her first plane (which she accepted and waited in the terminal for standby for 2:58 flight, only to be told that it was full. Trust me, the next flights would all be full as well. I’ve been there, done that. A passenger was willing to give up his seat, and she was told that she could not take his seat on the flight. She would have boarded with her own ticket, she was standby. She wasn’t trying to pass herself off as somebody else. She was only trying to get to Tucson.
October 18, 2007 at 10:14 am
Here’s the direct link to US Airways’ reply to this matter:
US Airways chose to respond to the person fisking the Washington Post article, rather than to the article, but I’ll forgive them that because the original article isn’t in blog form and, true to old media form, hasn’t posted any updates including the response. So for all I know US Airways did respond directly, but their response went into the Media Black Hole(tm) that such responses do.
October 18, 2007 at 10:38 am
Well, I think the main thing I’d fault US Airways for here, and I’ll freely admit I’m taking the words of the witnesses present on this, is the way things were handled by the gate staff. Of course, such people are generally overworked and under great pressure, especially when angry passengers are swarming the gate kiosk in an overbooked situation.
But from personal experience, customer service at the gate is generally sorely lacking. And if a passenger is angry or frustrated, you often see an escalating shouting match between passenger and gate personnel. I don’t fault the gate staff for eventually calling the police, but I do fault US Airways (and all the airlines) for not having figured out a way to defuse those tense situations.
Here’s a simple solution for 90%+ of the situations: have a small staff of roving ombudsman at each airport whose sole job is to help passengers involuntarily bumped from airplanes or on standby in danger of missing the last connecting flight of the day to their destination. Then have gate staff signal these folks and inform the passenger that a US Airways “Customer Advocate” will be there shortly.
Given that US Airways has 1.4 involuntarily bumped passengers per 10,000 fliers, flies 58 million passengers/year (an average of 159,000 per day), and serves maybe 250 airports you’d need just 300 or Customer Advocates to give every airport at least one, and have enough at the busier airports.
While a bean-counter would say these people aren’t producing revenue, that’s just BS. At 1.4 bumped per 10,000, US Airways has 8120 definitely disgruntled customers per year. If half never fly them again, thats 4060 lost customers, and a whole lot of lost revenue.
And we haven’t even considered even more cost-effective solutions, like airport Customer Advocates who can work with all the carriers at the airport to resolve matters. After all, each airport has a vested interested in passengers not associating it with Hell on Earth. More than one passenger has struck major hubs off their travel plans because of bad experiences there.
So is US Airways to blame for this tragic death? No. Are the police to blame? No, unless she gave them reason to believe a suicide watch was necessary. Is Carol Gotbaum’s family? No, unless they knew this would push her over the edge. Is Carol Gotbaum herself? Yes, assuming she did indeed miss the original flight through her own fault.
But that all misses the point. Could US Airways, or the airport, have defused this situation through simple courtesy and empathy. Absolutely. Good customer service doesn’t mean giving in to ridiculous customer demands. It just means treating the person like a friend or family member in need—with kindness and compassion. Qualities often lacking at airport gates and which would have probably saved Carol Gotbaum’s life and US Airways reputation.
October 18, 2007 at 10:40 am
I read the response yesterday. It’s slanted to say the least.
October 18, 2007 at 10:50 am
I read the response yesterday. It’s slanted to say the least.
Well, yeah, it’s corporate PR. But some of the response clarifies important issues, like how the first flight was missed. But, as I said, all of the heat on both sides misses the real tragedy: lack of decent customer service is making already tense and frustrating circumstances worse for everyone every day.
A little kindness goes a long, long way, especially when people are stressed out.
And instead of just sitting around waiting for the airlines or airports to Do The Right Thing(tm), let’s all resolve to do our part in those situations. Sometimes a calm third party can resolve these things just by listening to both sides and interceding for each. And nothing helps a person back from the abyss like a sympathetic listener. None of this will magically make the airport a wonderland of chocolate rivers and gumdrop trees or anything, but compassion and empathy seldom make things worse.
October 18, 2007 at 11:53 am
I agree with you AOC, the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. How hard is it to say what if this person were my mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband, son, daughter. Would you want someone to be treating them the way you are treating them. And this goes both ways..customer service and consumer interaction. Courtesy is missing in this country today, as well as compassion, and independent thinking and intuitive judgement. We are as robots, without feelings. I find it disheartening.
October 18, 2007 at 11:59 am
I just wanted to add, I’ve hugged strangers who looked like they needed a hug, including overstressed cashiers, waitresses and people who just looked like they needed a hug or a helping hand. I’m still alive today. Perhaps this is a risk I should not take,but I let my heart lead. Of course, I am speaking as woman hugging another woman. Today, with all the sexual harassment and other lawsuits, who knows, maybe one day this will be a sexual harassment suit as well. Sad world we live in today.
October 18, 2007 at 12:04 pm
###Why is this titled “Rent-a-Cop” brutality?###
Short answer: Because it’s a provocative title that gets people to read our blog and post comments…. 🙂
If you read what *I* actually wrote, I was pretty careful about assigning blame and really mostly raised questions.
I do, however, think that the UCLA independent investigator report I dug up and cited in the link to the Andrew Meyer case raises some good points. (We basically dumped on Andrew Meyer for being a wuss-ass attention whore.) “By the book” is all well and good—it’s certainly great for CYA—but sometimes authorities have to go off-script and use some discretion. In retrospect, the Gotbaum case looks like one of them.
Not So Angry wrote:
###It’s premature to assign blame in this situation.###
Yes, as I said “wait for the inquest.”
October 18, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Police brutality at airports is out of control. Especially when the police beat up/kill young women and mothers. This is similar to the police beating of the young woman at Reagan National Airport in DC except she suffered brain damage and is still alive. My thoughts and prayers go out to Carol Ann Gotbaum’s family. http://youtube.com/watch?v=XPNmxZwhMag
February 16, 2009 at 3:57 pm
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February 16, 2009 at 4:53 pm
A woman missed her flight at the boarding gate HKIA full 7min version watch here:
WATCH
February 7, 2010 at 11:25 am
Good post. Interesting read. I read something similar yesterday but for the life of me I can’t remember what the site was though. It’ll come to me – it must be old age 🙂
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