Actually our airport security have a lot of common sense. The reason might be that it is a small airport, where everybody know each other. They search us, but are not obnoxiously invasive. They also understand that a lot of what they are doing is just for public perception and does not increase real security, like asking us what we need our tools for. They know us since years and know that we aircraft maintence and they know that a trerrorist would just as well lie to them to get e.g. a knife through.
Unfortunately the security people are being watched themselves, e.g. a while ago a secretary, who was a personal friend of many security people was given a gun by the police and ordered to carry it through a checkpoint to see if the security screeners would search her correctly, even though she was wellknown to them. She later apologised to the guards.
What I don't like is that certain members of the airport management are considered inherently secure and have keys to open doors, which bypass security, as well that they do not have to be searched.
Earlier this year we had a new secirity company which became responsible for the airport perimeter and the ramp area, as well as armed guards at the passenger checkpoints. In the beginning they were very officious and pompous (like arresting a colleague, who lost his ID while working on a plane. We searched the plane, found his ID and got him fee again within half an hour, but this stupid 19 year old secondary school dopout told me in a pompous voise that it was strictly forbidden "TO LOOSE ONE'S ID BADGE"..