Criminal activity allegations and charges against TSA employees [merged threads]
May 14, 2011, 2:06 am
#16
Join Date: Oct 2010
Programs: AA ex-EXP (buh-bye!), HH Gold, SPG Gold, UM Go Blue
Posts: 543
TSA, with such a critical mission, should be held to a much higher standard. If you think it is OK that they are not, we are in even more danger than anyone thinks.
May 14, 2011, 12:03 pm
#17
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 173
Revised Letter?
Stupidzbu - Excellent letter. I hope you don't mind -- I added a few more articles and changed a little of the wording. What do you think of this?
[Your Name]
[Street Address]
[City, ST ZIP Code]
May 13, 2011
Honorable Congressman Thomas Petri
2462 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Honorable Congressman Thomas Petri:
I am very alarmed at the current news circulating about the Transport Security Agency and the threat to national security because of it. On May 11, 2011 the NY Press released an article titled “To Serve, to Protect and...to Steal” detailing the crimes of Pythias Brown, a 49-year-old TSA screener at Newark Liberty International Airport. The article mentions how Mr. Brown stole products that he then sold on E-bay for $400,000.
This is alarming for the following reasons:
1) If the TSA can remove items from luggage and sneak them out of the airport, then the process can be reversed and they can sneak them into the airport as well. This is very alarming as the state of emergency of the last decade was imposed on our society to explicitly limit this very action;
2) Over the past decade, TSA agents have proven to have low moral and ethical qualms;
3) Due to their actions listed in this letter, one can deduce that TSA agents may be bribed to do what terrorists, organized criminals, and foreign agents want once their lax attitude towards ethics is discovered.
Here is a list of some articles written about other TSA agents and criminal activities. This list is not complete:
LAX Tops Nation In Stolen, Missing Luggage Items (Nov 7, 2008)
TSA agent helped himself to a $47,900 camera (and more!) (Oct 10th 2008)
TSA official fired in alleged theft (4-6-09)
TSA officer faces drug charges in Palm Bay (April 9, 2009)
TSA Screener Accused of Stealing From Luggage at Phila. Int'l Airport (June 3, 2009)
Former TSA worker enters plea deal on fraud (June 24, 2009)
Sting operation catches TSA employee (July 15, 2009)
Ex-TSA screener gets 90 days [for stealing items from luggage] (August 29, 2009)
Crackdown Continues on TSA's Luggage Looters (Sep 29, 2009)
Cops: TSA Worker Molested 12-Year-Old (Jan 31, 2010)
TSA employee accused of raping 14-year-old girl (Mar 09, 2010)
TSA Worker Arrested After Jokes, Fight About Size of Genitalia (May 06, 2010)
TSA screener arrested for drug theft at Little Rock airport (Jul 03, 2010)
Off-Duty TSA Worker Charged With Threatening to Kill a Somali Man (Jul 29, 2010)
Hartsfield TSA worker allegedly abducts, assaults woman (Nov 23, 2010)
TSA agent at Memphis airport faces theft charge (Jan 27, 2011)
TSA workers stole $40k from baggage at JFK airport (Feb 16, 2011)
TSA Agent in Londonderry, NH Arrested For Rape, Sexual Assault (April 19, 2011)
Airpot passenger Screener Charged in Distributing Child Pornography (April 23, 2011)
I expected a much higher level of service from the people that are empowered to protect us from terrorist activities, and I am quite disappointed. In the 10 years since 9/11 the TSA has not apprehended a single terrorist nor have they prevented a terrorist activity, yet their position of power has been repeatedly abused. I question the standards and background checks of those who are placed at the iron gate against potential terrorist activity, especially with the talk of expanding the TSA to train stations and other mediums of transport.
I implore your committee look at the allegations and find a way to protect the flying public. Currently the TSA is the greatest compromise to our national security.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
I suggest hand writing this and mailing it out. Other politicians this can be sent out to are:
House:
Honorable John Mica
2187 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Senate:
Maria Cantwell
311 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Jay Rockefeller
531 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
TSA HQ, TSA 2
ATTN: 49 CFR 1503.3 Reports
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, VA 20598-6002
Janet Napolitano
444 N. Capitol St., NW, Ste. 400
Washington, DC 20001
[Your Name]
[Street Address]
[City, ST ZIP Code]
May 13, 2011
Honorable Congressman Thomas Petri
2462 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Honorable Congressman Thomas Petri:
I am very alarmed at the current news circulating about the Transport Security Agency and the threat to national security because of it. On May 11, 2011 the NY Press released an article titled “To Serve, to Protect and...to Steal” detailing the crimes of Pythias Brown, a 49-year-old TSA screener at Newark Liberty International Airport. The article mentions how Mr. Brown stole products that he then sold on E-bay for $400,000.
This is alarming for the following reasons:
1) If the TSA can remove items from luggage and sneak them out of the airport, then the process can be reversed and they can sneak them into the airport as well. This is very alarming as the state of emergency of the last decade was imposed on our society to explicitly limit this very action;
2) Over the past decade, TSA agents have proven to have low moral and ethical qualms;
3) Due to their actions listed in this letter, one can deduce that TSA agents may be bribed to do what terrorists, organized criminals, and foreign agents want once their lax attitude towards ethics is discovered.
Here is a list of some articles written about other TSA agents and criminal activities. This list is not complete:
LAX Tops Nation In Stolen, Missing Luggage Items (Nov 7, 2008)
TSA agent helped himself to a $47,900 camera (and more!) (Oct 10th 2008)
TSA official fired in alleged theft (4-6-09)
TSA officer faces drug charges in Palm Bay (April 9, 2009)
TSA Screener Accused of Stealing From Luggage at Phila. Int'l Airport (June 3, 2009)
Former TSA worker enters plea deal on fraud (June 24, 2009)
Sting operation catches TSA employee (July 15, 2009)
Ex-TSA screener gets 90 days [for stealing items from luggage] (August 29, 2009)
Crackdown Continues on TSA's Luggage Looters (Sep 29, 2009)
Cops: TSA Worker Molested 12-Year-Old (Jan 31, 2010)
TSA employee accused of raping 14-year-old girl (Mar 09, 2010)
TSA Worker Arrested After Jokes, Fight About Size of Genitalia (May 06, 2010)
TSA screener arrested for drug theft at Little Rock airport (Jul 03, 2010)
Off-Duty TSA Worker Charged With Threatening to Kill a Somali Man (Jul 29, 2010)
Hartsfield TSA worker allegedly abducts, assaults woman (Nov 23, 2010)
TSA agent at Memphis airport faces theft charge (Jan 27, 2011)
TSA workers stole $40k from baggage at JFK airport (Feb 16, 2011)
TSA Agent in Londonderry, NH Arrested For Rape, Sexual Assault (April 19, 2011)
Airpot passenger Screener Charged in Distributing Child Pornography (April 23, 2011)
I expected a much higher level of service from the people that are empowered to protect us from terrorist activities, and I am quite disappointed. In the 10 years since 9/11 the TSA has not apprehended a single terrorist nor have they prevented a terrorist activity, yet their position of power has been repeatedly abused. I question the standards and background checks of those who are placed at the iron gate against potential terrorist activity, especially with the talk of expanding the TSA to train stations and other mediums of transport.
I implore your committee look at the allegations and find a way to protect the flying public. Currently the TSA is the greatest compromise to our national security.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
I suggest hand writing this and mailing it out. Other politicians this can be sent out to are:
House:
Honorable John Mica
2187 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Senate:
Maria Cantwell
311 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Jay Rockefeller
531 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
TSA HQ, TSA 2
ATTN: 49 CFR 1503.3 Reports
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, VA 20598-6002
Janet Napolitano
444 N. Capitol St., NW, Ste. 400
Washington, DC 20001
May 16, 2011, 8:36 pm
#18
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 7
TSA officer accused of stealing from luggage at LAX
May 16, 2011, 8:57 pm
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: An NPR mind living in a Fox News world
Posts: 14,165
Driscoll was hired by the TSA in 2002 and the agency has a "zero-tolerance" policy for theft in the workplace, said TSA spokesman Nico Melendez.
TSA officers have screened 90 million travelers and more than 70 million checked bags at LAX since March 2007, when another officer was arrested for allegedly stealing items from a suitcase, Melendez said.
"The disgraceful actions of one person should not reflect negatively on the approximately 50,000 TSA officers across the country who work each day to keep the traveling public safe," Melendez said in a written statement.
"TSA is working closely with law enforcement authorities to ensure the individual responsible is prosecuted," Melendez said. "We will move swiftly and decisively to end the federal careers of any employee who engages in illegal activity on the job."
TSA officers have screened 90 million travelers and more than 70 million checked bags at LAX since March 2007, when another officer was arrested for allegedly stealing items from a suitcase, Melendez said.
"The disgraceful actions of one person should not reflect negatively on the approximately 50,000 TSA officers across the country who work each day to keep the traveling public safe," Melendez said in a written statement.
"TSA is working closely with law enforcement authorities to ensure the individual responsible is prosecuted," Melendez said. "We will move swiftly and decisively to end the federal careers of any employee who engages in illegal activity on the job."
He's obviously feeling good that they have gone four years without a (reported) screening clerk baggage thief.
But, he overlooked telling us the current employment status of this current thief.
Nico is a piece of work.
May 16, 2011, 10:59 pm
#20
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: SYD (perenially), GVA (not in a long time)
Programs: QF PS, EK-Gold, Security Theatre Critic
Posts: 6,785
My friend's wife had a very nice new dress disappear from checked luggage at LAX. In 2009. But yeah, "zero-tolerance".
May 17, 2011, 9:45 am
#21
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 7
Possible reason for why there are so many criminals working for TSA
Perhaps the reason there are so many criminals working for TSA is that criminal's working for TSA's HR department are doing the hiring???
BOSTON -- A Lynn man has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for selling the Social Security numbers and other personal information of federal airport screeners who worked at Logan International Airport.
Federal prosecutors said Michael Derring, 49, who also goes by the name Michael Washington, was also sentenced Monday to three years of probation and ordered to pay more than $50,000 in restitution.
Authorities said Derring and a co-conspirator obtained the personal information, including dates of birth, of Transportation Security Administration workers from a relative who worked as a contractor in the TSA's human resources department.
They then used that information to open gas, electric, cable television, telephone and other services for themselves, relatives and friends, including some prison inmates.
Read more: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news...#ixzz1McnV5o6F
Federal prosecutors said Michael Derring, 49, who also goes by the name Michael Washington, was also sentenced Monday to three years of probation and ordered to pay more than $50,000 in restitution.
Authorities said Derring and a co-conspirator obtained the personal information, including dates of birth, of Transportation Security Administration workers from a relative who worked as a contractor in the TSA's human resources department.
They then used that information to open gas, electric, cable television, telephone and other services for themselves, relatives and friends, including some prison inmates.
Read more: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news...#ixzz1McnV5o6F
May 17, 2011, 11:13 am
#22
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LAX/CWA/TOA/AUW
Programs: Mileage Plus, SW Rewards, WorldPerks, Barnes and Noble Frequent Buyers
Posts: 368
LAX TSO Arrested for theft
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_18075875
If he's been there since 2002 and still is a TSO he's not very ambitious.
A Transportation Security Administration officer was arrested for allegedly stealing items from a traveler's suitcase at Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said Monday.
The LAX Crime Task Force, composed of airport police and Los Angeles Police Department officers, investigated a report that Driscoll had stolen items from a passenger's bag, leading to his arrest May 10 at Terminal 6, said Sgt. Belinda Nettles of the LAX police department.
Driscoll was hired by the TSA in 2002 and the agency has a "zero-tolerance" policy for theft in the workplace, said TSA spokesman Nico Melendez.
TSA officers have screened 90 million travelers and more than 70 million checked bags at LAX since March 2007, when another officer was arrested for allegedly stealing items from a suitcase, Melendez said.
The LAX Crime Task Force, composed of airport police and Los Angeles Police Department officers, investigated a report that Driscoll had stolen items from a passenger's bag, leading to his arrest May 10 at Terminal 6, said Sgt. Belinda Nettles of the LAX police department.
Driscoll was hired by the TSA in 2002 and the agency has a "zero-tolerance" policy for theft in the workplace, said TSA spokesman Nico Melendez.
TSA officers have screened 90 million travelers and more than 70 million checked bags at LAX since March 2007, when another officer was arrested for allegedly stealing items from a suitcase, Melendez said.
May 17, 2011, 1:12 pm
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: DFW
Posts: 28,110
May 17, 2011, 1:28 pm
#30
Moderator: Smoking Lounge; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: Lifetime (for now) Gold MM, HH Gold, Giving Tootsie Pops to UA employees, & a retired hockey goalie
Posts: 28,878
And e plrubis unum afaic
To take a twist on Chief Brody from the movie 'Jaws", we need a bigger barrel
From the article and TSA Spokesperson Nico Melendez (with the bolding mine)
Another officer huh? And where have I heard the last part before? Why don't you come out with it and say if this TSO was fired. It's a yes or no issue 
. Sheesh
To take a twist on Chief Brody from the movie 'Jaws", we need a bigger barrel
From the article and TSA Spokesperson Nico Melendez (with the bolding mine)
TSA officers have screened 90 million travelers and more than 70 million checked bags at LAX since March 2007, when another officer was arrested for allegedly stealing items from a suitcase, Melendez said......
....""We will move swiftly and decisively to end the federal careers of any employee who engages in illegal activity on the job."
....""We will move swiftly and decisively to end the federal careers of any employee who engages in illegal activity on the job."
And where have I heard the last part before? Why don't you come out with it and say if this TSO was fired. It's a yes or no issue . Sheesh