Originally Posted by
thebakaronis
Lots of security cameras can help track the passenger's movements. Even if they manage to board a flight by the time they're identified, they could be detained at their destination, especially if it's a domestic flight, I'd imagine. This is, of course, in theory. I was assured by the officer I spoke with that they've been successful every time this has happened at that particular airport. The question is whether one can trust that assertion or not.
I think we've all seen enough video of incidents at the c/p to know that the video often just isn't that good. Whether it's poorly placed cameras, not enough coverage, or older equipment with low resolution, definitively identifying which passenger steals something from the belt isn't all that easy.
Naturally, that varies significantly from country to country, airport to airport, and even from c/p to c/p.