Originally Posted by
chollie
No, I would not be amazed. Many of the folks going to great lengths to make money are dressed in TSA uniforms. It's a shame that TSA assumes pax claims are fraud while continuing to excuse officer misconduct as 'final say'. Your very willingness to double down on alleged fraudulent pax claims while saying nothing about dishonest TSOs reflects the organization's bias.
Absent verifiable proof, I do not believe the majority of pax claims to TSA are fraudulent, nor do I believe you have such proof. I do not believe TSA investigates more than a very small fraction of the claims submitted.
What I also know is that TSA has cameras, does not reliably retain footage, and deliberately runs the clock out instead of addressing claims in a timely manner. Further, no reliable records are kept (as they are at any responsible organization) to watch for patterns. If there are multiple pax complaints about baggage contents being damaged, specifically containers opened and tossed back into the bag unsealed, it is a simple matter to cross-check those complaints with the staff working at the time and then start reviewing camera footage or rotating employees to identify the culprits..
You know, the sort of thing TSA does when LE forces its hand because there's drug or gun smuggling going on.
(bolding mine)
Seriously? Either you are acknowledging that baggage screening areas are so poorly secured that anyone can come in and start opening bags without being challenged, or the areas are properly secured and the only people who could be fraudulently initialing cards would be TSOs. If the latter is the case, I would think a well-run organization would want to weed these people out.
With all due respect, that is what you posted. You doubled down on it when you posited that requiring TSOs to put personal identifiers on the tags they are supposed to put in searched bags wouldn't work because either:
1) TSA baggage screening areas are readily accessible by non-TSA personnel and non_TSA personnel opening bags in the baggage screening area and putting TSA love notes in will not be challenged or even noticed
or
2) some TSOs can't be trusted, so we should do nothing, because otherwise an innocent TSO might be hung out to dry by one of his co-workers.
If TSA took complaints about pax luggage being mistreated, there would be no on-going issues with cremains. The problem arises when TSA teaches its screeners that it is perfectly OK to remove the cap of an LG and then toss the opened container back in the bag. TSA just wants its screeners to try to avoid treating cremains that way. It's hardly surprising if a screener who opens containers and tosses them back in bags for grins does the same thing with cremains.
I can't believe that TSA's current approach is to blame the pax for not properly labelling the cremains so TSOs will realize that this is one container that should be respected.
I would be remiss if I did not point out that you are putting words into my comments.
I never said that TSA assumes the passenger is fraudulent in their claims.
I never disallowed for dishonest TSOs.
I merely pointed out that some cases involve fraud, as a part of asking for patience and an investigation. I further indicated that I have personally seen some of the things I was describing, and that you would be amazed at the lengths some people would go to.
I never stated, nor implied, that the majority of claims submitted to TSA are fraudulent in nature - only that there should be investigations, and that fraud does happen.
Asking for proof and investigations is not organizational bias, it is seeking the truth.
I am acknowledging that once the slip is placed in the bag and it departs, it is out of our control and may be used for any purpose desired. That is millions of slips weekly that are issued and out of TSA control - simple logic indicates that they can be used for anything in the future.
With all due respect:
1. I said nothing of the sort. I said that other people have access to the baggage after it is screened. Again, simple logic will indicate that the bags move from the screening point to the plane, and they have to move there by some format, they also have to be retrieved from the plane and moved to the baggage claim belt.
2. Some people can't be trusted, period. Add whatever job title or position you want as a modifier in that statement, there are dishonest people all over the world. Again, asking for investigations and proof is not dishonesty or bias, it is seeking the truth.
Your assumption about ongoing "issues" with cremains is inaccurate based upon the information at hand - TSA does not "TSA teaches its screeners that it is perfectly OK to remove the cap of an LG and then toss the opened container back in the bag", so any assumption based upon that theory is incorrect on the face of it. I know, I have been training TSOs for TSA for 11 1/2 years, and it has never been a part of any training. To be perfectly clear, all of the training over the last 11 1/2 years has been the exact opposite - return the bag as close to original condition as possible.
I have not seen TSA blame the passenger, in the aftermath, I have seen them make a statement that cremains may have been handled a bit differently if they had been labeled, there is a decided difference. It is unrealistic to expect someone to know exactly what is inside of a container unless it is labeled, or they are communicated with ahead of time. To someone that gets an alarm on unlabeled material, it is simply the next item to clear via procedures.
Originally Posted by
Boggie Dog
If TSA can't figure out a way to control individual screeners search notices then what can TSA secure?
^^ for your post.
In regards to the highlighted text I have no problem believing that TSA will always blame anyone else before the TSA organization (read mob), no problem at all.
See above.