Original Article Consultant deemed a risk at Sky Harbor airport Traveler waylaid going, coming Dennis Wagner The Arizona Republic Oct. 27, 2004 12:00 AM If you've ever been pulled aside, questioned and inspected by airport security officials, you'll understand Neville Cramer's frustration. The 53-year-old Scottsdale consultant says he was puzzled Monday when a Transportation Security Administration officer first moved him out of line as a security threat at Sky Harbor International Airport. After all, Cramer spent more than a quarter-century as a special agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He said he has traveled millions of air miles during his career without a hitch. And he was on his way to Mexico to give a presentation on electronic passport security to the United Nations' International Civil Aeronautics Organization. Cramer figured it wouldn't take long to clear things up: Just pull out his old INS badge, throw in a driver's license . . . Those credentials didn't persuade the Transportation Security Administration worker, who directed Cramer to an area where "high-threat individuals" are inspected and interrogated. For Cramer, that was an hourlong ordeal. There is no record of how many airline passengers suffer similar delays and indignities each day. Government and industry officials say the frustration is regrettable, but that's life in the post-9/11 era. In Cramer's case, authorities went through his bags, swabbed his belongings for explosives and even checked his tiny plastic business-card container for a weapon. When he asked why he was targeted, he said workers pointed to an "SSSS" on the bottom of his United Express ticket and said it meant the airline's computer had identified him as suspect. "How am I a security threat? I have 26 years as a federal agent," he said. United Airlines spokesman Jeff Green said air carriers have no control over federal watch lists and passenger-profiling computers. "We are required to run every passenger through this system," he added. "There's some anomaly (with Cramer). I don't know what it is. I'm sure the government won't tell you." Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Andrea McCauley confirmed that she could not discuss problems encountered by a specific individual. She said there is "a rainbow of indicators that mark someone as suspicious." Besides terrorist watch lists, passengers may be pulled aside because they purchased a one-way ticket, because of travel history or at random. But Cramer's ordeal was not over. After returning to the United Airlines gate, where his jetliner sat waiting, employees refused to let him board. "They tell me, 'You can't get on the plane,' " Cramer said. "Now, here's the real catch. My bags are on the plane. . . . So I began to get a little irate. And a police officer who was standing there says, 'You're being disorderly. I'm going to arrest you if you don't quiet down.' " Cramer said he was escorted to the United ticket counter, re-booked on a Tuesday flight and warned that he likely would be branded as a threat again by the computer. Sure enough, Cramer called from Sky Harbor on Tuesday morning to announce that he was being waylaid for another security check. This time, he was informed that he was targeted due to his travels. Cramer called back later to say he was boarding the flight. If all went as planned, he figures to be in Yucatan this morning, telling U.N. officials about the benefits of an electronic passport that contains a person's fingerprints, photograph and biographical information encrypted on a computer chip. Air travelers who are chronically selected for special screening may seek help by e-mailing the TSA ombudsman at tsa.ombudsman@dhs.gov or by calling 1-(866)-289-9673.