Attacks Against TSA Agents Are on the Increase
Jackie Reddy November 18, 2018
TSA agents walk on the departures level a day after a shooting that killed one Transportation Security Administration worker and injured several others at Los Angeles International Airport November 2, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. The airport is almost back to normal operations a day after a man pulled an assault rifle and shot his way through security at Terminal 3, killing one Transportation Security Administration worker and wounding several others. Federal officials identified the alleged gunman as Paul Ciancia, 23, of New Jersey. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Violent physical and verbal attacks against agents of the Transportation Security Administration are on the increase. According to recent figures released by the administration, three agents a month were attacked during 2017. A spokesperson for the TSA called the attacks “completely unacceptable”.
Attacks on Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents are increasing, reports WCNC.com. According to the outlet, figures released by the administration indicate that, during 2017, about three agents a month were assaulted.
Approximately half of these violent incidents occurred during either the baggage inspection or patdown process.
Offering the administration’s stance on these attacks, Sari Koshetz, a spokesperson for the TSA, said, “There have been quite a few assaults in the past few years and it’s very troubling for us. It’s hard to say the reason for it, but it’s completely unacceptable.”
In this year alone, the outlet reports that there have been 34 attacks on agency staff around the nation. This is a 30 per cent increase from 2016. But, as J. David Cox, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees – the labor body that represents TSA workers – states, it’s not just the violent outbursts that are cause for concern.
“There’s verbal abuse of the TSA officers on a regular reoccurring basis,” he adds.
When it comes to contributing factors, Cox believes that staff levels could play into the current level of violence against TSA employees. “There are less officers, which frequently causes lower morale, causes lines to be longer at airports and therefore people get frustrated because they are in lines longer,” he states.
Incidentally, working as a TSA agent is ranked as one of the union’s ten most dangerous jobs.
However, for any would-be perpetrators of violence against TSA staff, Koshetz advises that, “During any cases where our employees have been assaulted, we do work with law enforcement and we will pursue it in the courts.”
So at ~30 a year we're talking about something that is statistically insignificant and lower than the chance of dying in an accident during your commute? Got it. If TSA want to pretend they're law enforcement then they can deal with the consequences of their being (crappy) law enforcement. Fewer staff at checkpoints does not mean slower lines: the staff *could* try working for change. Other airports around the world have higher levels of security with fewer staff and shorter lines: why can't the US TSA manage it?
TSA at Newark seem to go out of their way to create a stressful environment. And the entire setup pre-security for internationals is ridiculous. If you're unfortunate enough to be forced into the line which also designated for crews, your line moves at a fraction of the time of other lines. You stay put while crew after crew (and friends and family of crews) are ushered ahead of you. Instead of a dedicated crew line, they do this nonsense. It almost feels as if it's intentionally designed to irritate 1/3 of their travelers.
"TSA agents at airports like RDU, etc., are polite and friendly and are treated with respect by the flying public. But those at JFK, Newark, etc. are so rude and hateful," So, by adding "etc." to RDU, are we supposed to infer that you mean airports in southern states, and by naming airports in northern states as rude and hateful" you're suggesting this is a regional issue?
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A second comment regarding the picture associated with this article: There is nothing about this picture that shows TSA screeners in a good light. They look less than pleased to be where they are, grim expressions, and in general look like a group of thugs. If TSA wants to put out a positive image pictures like these should be replaced with more positive images along with perhaps a change of culture within the agency. BS stories like the one in this article doesn't help TSA's image either.