U.S. keeps record of threats to screeners

WASHINGTON, May 25 (UPI) -- Passengers who give airport screeners a hard time may have their names placed in a special database, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration says.

The TSA says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is keeping track of people who make screeners feel threatened as part of an effort to prevent workplace violence, USA Today reports.

Agency spokeswoman Kristin Lee says the database was created in late 2007 when the TSA launched a program to prevent the nation's 50,000 airport screeners from being attacked or threatened.

Screener A.J. Castilla, who works at Boston's Logan Airport, says he has seen angry passengers throw shoes and push screeners.

Lawyer Michael German of the American Civil Liberties Union questions whether the database is some sort of a "baby watch list."

"There's a potential for the misuse of information or the mischaracterization of harmless events as potential threats," German says.