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TSA Employees Liken Culture To ‘Lord Of The Flies’

Testimony before Congress claims internal politics leads to security gaps in aviation infrastructure.

Whistleblowing employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are taking their grievances to Washington, accusing the agency of fostering a negative environment that creates safety vulnerabilities. NBC News reports the accusations come during a round of testimony to the House Oversight Committee by multiple employees of the embattled agency.

The employees told the committee those employees who spoke up about broken policies were often subjected to professional retaliation. The alleged pushback ranged from verbal confrontations to poor performance reviews and involuntary reassignments. The committee is also investigating claims that supervisors who maintained the status-quo were given major bonuses, despite ignoring security warnings.

“If you tell the truth in TSA you will be targeted,” Mark Livingston, a TSA program manager, told the committee, according to NBC News. “I call it the Lord of the Flies —either attack or be attacked.”

In another episode, an assistant federal security director said he was accused by supervisors of “going native” after attending a meeting at a local mosque. Furthermore, he claims he was also told to specifically profile Somali-American leaders and was told to vet potential visitors with the agency’s field intelligence officer.

The damaging testimony comes as the TSA struggles to re-invent themselves after shortcomings were exposed in investigations. In a recently released audit, the agency was discovered to clear 73 individuals for aviation employment, even though they had potential ties to terrorism. Furthermore, airports including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) are considering replacing the TSA with private security screening firms.

Despite the challenges, new TSA administrator Peter Neffenger continues a campaign to change public input about the agency. The new leader has committed to hiring more TSA agents, with training for new recruits at the National Law Enforcement Training Centers facility in Georgia.

[Photo: AP]

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2 Comments
K
KRSW May 3, 2016

TSA needs to just go away. They've stopped exactly 0.000 terrorists. They're crippling our airlines by deterring people from flying. My entire office flies less as screening becomes more and more onerous and the delays pile up. Why fly when I can drive and get there faster? Or why bother with the hassle when a video conference is a few clicks away? And...they're making air travel LESS safe! A Brussels/Moscow attack in one of the ridiculously-long screening queues would easily take out 500+ at a time.

C
CitizenWorld May 1, 2016

Stuff like this is why the TSA has no credibility with the flying public.