Backpacks, Waterbottles, and other Bad Things

Approximately one million years ago, I was desperate to earn money so that I could serve a mission. I took a position as a guard, working at the Tennessee State Prison. It was the only job I could find. I was barely 18 years old, but the state had recently dropped the age requirement from 21 to 18, as there had been a riot at the prison, which hurt the recruiting, I guess. We got a couple of weeks of training on the duties of being a prison guard and how to shoot various types of guns, and then were taken to the prison for our first day on the job.
I will never forget what happened that first day. As we entered the prison, we were required to pass through a security station, just like all the visitors coming to see the inmates. One of my fellow guards, part of the new graduating class, was arrested. He was caught trying to smuggle in bullets he had hidden on his person.

I reflected on that incident as I passed through security last week at the St. Louis airport. I noticed a young man wearing a TSA jacket walk past security without going through the metal detector. His backpack wasn't run through the scanner.
I thought to myself, "I wonder what makes the TSA think their staff is above the law?"
As I stood there pondering that question, I saw the pilots, going through security, just like me. Now the logic gets really convoluted.
Those pilots go through security to make sure they don't have a bottle of water in their briefcases (and I guess they would also have to surrender any guns or knives or explosives), but in just a few minutes, they will literally have the lives of hundreds of passengers in their hands. Aren't we straining at a gnat?

I guess I shouldn't question the system, these things have a way of working themselves out over time. For instance, I heard just this past week that later this year, the TSA will have enough sophisticated equipment in place to be able to declare that water purchased at the airport before going through security is no more hazardous than the water purchased after going through, and will stop taking away my water bottles. Progress!