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Compiling TSA screw ups and overreaches
I set up a blog that compiles the overreaches of the TSA.
I've gone back and put in a bunch of the high profile incidents in recent memory, but would appreciate hearing any that I've missed. http://tsascrewups.com (The actual name of the blog is slightly different, but this URL will work.) The goal is to provide an easy reference to the incompetence of the agency. Too many individual stories seem to get lost in the daily media stream. |
I like.
One suggestion: consider maybe replacing the word "agent" with the word "employee." No sense in giving those jack-booted gestapo rejects any more legitimacy than they deserve. Either way, though, props for the effort at putting it together. We do already have a lot of sites chronicling TSA abuses but I don't know if there are any blogs dedicated to aggregating the stories from all the myriad sites that post them and focusing on just the TSA as opposed to general government incompetence or general political coverage. Try like hell to get this spread around. I'll link it on Facebook but obviously I'm just one d00d. Cheers. |
I may be able to add a few that I've been compiling since November. I posted some of these earlier in this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16013237-post27.html. The story links are attached.
You already have most of them but there may be a few others in that post. One suggestion though. The site name and title may turn some folks off and create the impression that this is a fringe site. It would not be something say a regulator or legislator would be inclined to cite as a source even though the stories are valid. This is a very professional looking and it would be a shame if folks clicked away due to an initially negative impression. (No doubt that most folks here share the sentiment though.) Perhaps TSA Incompetence (as you mention) or TSA Failures, TSA Misconduct or some other more professional sounding phrase would imply higher credibility. Thanks for your effort and the great job building this. I'll post back with any other stories I have archived. |
Partial list of Isolated Incidents™
LAX Tops Nation In Stolen, Missing Luggage Items Nov 7, 2008 <SNIP> These two LAX employees would only talk if we concealed their identities. "I saw thefts within the first few weeks of working there." They both say there are organized rings of thieves, who identify valuables in your checked luggage by looking at the TSA x-ray screens, then communicate with baggage handlers by text or cell phone, telling them exactly what to look for. "This is a laptop here, VCR here and it's located in this area of the bag. Here's the color of the bag. They give them all the information they need to know." "He was going through the bag like he was searching it? Yeah searching it." Sky Nguyen knows firsthand. He took this picture of a TSA screener with his camera phone after he saw the agent steal his iPod. "You saw the Nano in here? Yeah inside here between the glove and palm." The TSA agent was arrested and charged with theft. Tempting the thieves with the pocketables By Joe Sharkey Published: December 9, 2008 <SNIP> I do everything the experts recommend to minimize the possibility of having something stolen when I check a bag. Mostly that means that I try not to put easily filched valuables in the bag. Kathleen Kemper, of Kirkland, Washington State, an experienced domestic and international traveler, usually takes the same precaution. But on a recent flight from Albuquerque through Phoenix to Seattle, Kemper casually slipped her Apple iPod into a zip pocket in a suitcase she was checking. When she got to Seattle, the iPod was gone. Inside her suitcase was one of those notes from the Transportation Security Administration, saying that a TSA inspector had opened the bag. TSA agent helped himself to a $47,900 camera (and more!) by Scott Carmichael Oct 10th 2008 <SNIP> The latest in a long lineup of bad press for the agency involves TSA screener Pythias Brown. This 48 year old resident of Maplewood, NJ was supposed to keep bad stuff off the plane, but instead, he was helping himself to valuable items from the bags of people entrusting him with their belongings. Pythias started small, stealing cameras, laptop computers, gaming consoles and eventually moved on to the good stuff including a video camera belonging to CNN, and a $47,900 camera stored inside the bag of an HBO employee. The items were sold on Ebay, and as you can see from his feedback listing, these were not cheap items. TSA official fired in alleged theft By Linda Loyd 4-6-09 INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Transportation Safety Administration investigators have fired a lead TSA official from his Philadelphia International Airport duties for alleged theft from passengers' bags. The mid-level transportation security officer was caught stealing from checked baggage on April 1, said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis. She declined to identify the TSA officer. TSA officer faces drug charges in Palm Bay BY KAUSTUV BASU • FLORIDA TODAY • April 9, 2009 Timothy Monroe, 41, faces charges including trafficking cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of paraphernalia. A Brevard County Circuit Court judge today set a bond of $743,000 for a Transportation Security Administration employee who has been charged with selling drugs from his Palm Bay house. TSA Screener Accused of Stealing From Luggage at Phila. Int'l Airport by KYW's Jim Melwert 6-3-09 A 36-year-old Willingboro, New Jersey man - and TSA employee - is facing federal charges that he stole several items out of luggage he was charged with checking. Former TSA worker enters plea deal on fraud The Associated Press, June 24, 2009 COVINGTON, Ky. — A former federal government employee at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport has entered a plea agreement to charges that he stole from the government. The Kentucky Enquirer reported 47-year-old Gary Kesner of Lebanon, Ohio, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Monday in U.S. District Court in Covington. Sting operation catches TSA employee BY Wil Cruz DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Wednesday, July 15th 2009 A sting captured by security cameras nabbed two sticky-fingered airport workers who swiped electronics planted by authorities, officials said. Brian Burton, 27, and Antwon Simmons, 26, stole a laptop and cell phone from the decoy luggage as it moved through Kennedy Airport, Port Authority officials said. Burton, an officer with the Transportation Security Administration, was videotaped July 7 pilfering through the Miami-bound suitcase in an airport screening room while Simmons, a baggage handler, looked on. Ex-TSA screener gets 90 days By Melissa Tanji Maui News 8-29-09 WAILUKU — A 30-year-old former Transportation Security Administration worker has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years of probation for stealing jewelry, gift cards and other items from tourists' luggage as they were screened at Kahului Airport. Devie Darla Dale Feig, a single mother of five children, also was ordered to pay $945.39 in restitution, which she will pay to TSA. The agency already has reimbursed the victims. According to court records, one of the victims, a teacher from Missouri, had items including a checkbook, house key and three Kohl's gift cards stolen from her luggage. She later tracked the gift cards and found they were used by Feig to purchase items over the Internet, and the items were shipped to a Kahului address. Police also found Feig with jewelry that was taken from a North Dakota woman's suitcase. Crackdown Continues on TSA's Luggage Looters Investigation into workers stealing from passengers at MIA ongoing By WILLARD SHEPARD and BRIAN HAMACHER Sep 29, 2009 <SNIP> Sources say six TSA employees, two men and four women, were fired weeks ago for running the organized operation. One returned 31 passenger items, including an iPod, another brought back 25 stolen items, including jewelry and a camera after both were discovered. Now detectives are trying to find more suspects while finding the rightful owners of the items, which include expensive watches, jewelry, cameras and other goods. They'll be prosecuted once the victims identify their belongings. Cops: TSA Worker Molested 12-Year-Old http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...7/4058f618.jpg January 31, 2010 ORLANDO, Fla. -- A federal Transportation Security Administration employee has been arrested in connection with the molestation of a girl, Orange County sheriff's deputies said. After a 15-year-old girl came forward claiming Charles Henry Bennett, 57, touched her inappropriately when she was 12, deputies said he was arrested early Friday and booked into the Orange County Jail. The arrest report says man told investigators he planned to make her his "sex slave." TSA employee accused of raping 14-year-old girl http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...7/1b5f070b.jpg 03/09/10 WINTHROP, Mass. -- A Transportation Security Administration worker at Logan International Airport is accused of assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Sean Shanahan, 45, of Winthrop is being held on $50,000 cash bail following his arraignment in East Boston District Court. He is charged with statutory rape, enticement of a child and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older. He has also been ordered not to contact the victim or any minors. Winthrop Police said this all started when a father contacted them about sexually explicit text messages on his daughter’s cell phone. Shanahan reportedly began contact with the girl in January. “The defendant stated to us that it was in fact a ‘sexting’ relationship…they were sending inappropriate text messages to each other of an inappropriate nature,” said Lt. Brian Perrin of the Winthrop Police Department. Police said the inappropriate contact escalated and Shanahan had physical sexual contact with the girl at his Winthrop home in February over school break. “As a result of interviews with victims as well as witnesses it was revealed that there was in fact a rape of a child,” Perrin said. TSA Worker Arrested After Jokes, Fight About Size of Genitalia Published May 06, 2010 A TSA worker in Miami was arrested when he "lost his mind" and attacked a colleague who repeatedly made fun of his small penis after the security screener walked through a high-tech scanner that showed his genitalia, according to Miami-Dade police. Rolando Negrin, 44, was arrested at Miami International Airport Wednesday morning following an altercation with a fellow screener, Hugh Osorno, Tuesday evening. Negrin is facing assault charges for allegedly beating Osorno with a baton in the airport's parking lot, NBC Miami reported. Negrin had been embarrassed and enraged by constant ribbing from his colleagues after a training session with a "Whole Body Imaging" machine, according to the police affidavit. "The X-ray revealed [Negrin] has a small penis and co-workers made fun of him on a daily basis," according to the report. TSA screener arrested for drug theft at Little Rock airport http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...7/7c23750d.jpg 7/03/2010 A federal employee hired to keep you safe finds himself in trouble with the law and without his government job. Thirty-three year old Christopher Burley is accused of stealing painkillers from a passenger at Little Rock's National Airport. It all started when a female passenger noticed missing pills from her medicine bottle. This after she followed all of the rules and regulations TSA requires when boarding an airplane. Now authorities want to know why the employee didn't follow the company's regulations. Passengers at the airport are shocked over what police say Burley, a TSA screener did Wednesday morning. When a female passenger noticed painkillers missing from her purse after going through a security checkpoint, an investigation was prompted. Later, a TSA official found the missing pills they say Burley tried to hide. According to employees at the airport, it was all caught on camera, too. Off-Duty TSA Worker Charged With Threatening to Kill a Somali Man http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...7/89a4415b.jpg MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) 7-29-10 Felony charges have been filed against an off-duty TSA worker accused of threatening to kill a Somali man Monday night. Minneapolis Police arrested 63-year-old George Loren Thompson after they said they heard him screaming threats and chasing the victim in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. They said he was drunk and had two loaded guns on him, along with a permit to carry. The victim told police it all started when he was getting into his car on Cedar Avenue. That's where he said Thompson, whom he had never met, asked, "Are you Somali?" When the victim said yes, Thompson allegedly responded, "Come here. I am gonna f---ing kill you." Hartsfield TSA worker allegedly abducts, assaults woman November 23, 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution A TSA employee based at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport tried to kill himself after allegedly abducting a woman, sexually assaulting her then giving her a suicide note to deliver. MARTA police are among the law enforcement agencies investigating the claim that Randall Scott King, 49, kidnapped the woman from the Lakewood station Wednesday night. King accompanied her there from the airport where she left with him voluntarily, Hartsfield-Jackson spokeswoman Katena Carvajales told the AJC. But King allegedly restrained the woman in the MARTA parking lot and took her to his house in Hogansville, about 50 miles south of Atlanta, where the sexual assault occurred, police there say. <SNIP> King, a behavior detection officer, has been with the Transportation Security Administration for nearly five years, spokesman Jon Allen told the AJC. TSA agent at Memphis airport faces theft charge http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...7/e5da1eed.jpg January 27, 2011 A Transportation Security Administration agent has been charged with theft after attempting to steal a laptop at Memphis International Airport. Ricky German, 48, was charged Wednesday with theft of property over $1,000 but less than $10,000. The incident occurred Dec. 20; it's uncertain why it took so long for charges to be filed. According to a police affidavit, a man traveling through the airport sent his Apple laptop through the security screening process, but forgot to pick it back up. Later, the victim and his brother went back and asked German repeatedly if he had seen the laptop. Eventually, after airport police arrived, German produced the computer, saying he'd found it. However, a check of surveillance video revealed that German took the laptop to another part of the airport and hid it. He then got it back, wrapped it under his coat and took it back downstairs before he was discovered. http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...cf13ff23-1.jpg TSA workers stole $40k from baggage at JFK airport http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...7/2eed7e82.jpg 16 February 2011 NEW YORK CITY (BNO NEWS) -- Two employees with the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) have been arrested and are facing charges after allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from checked baggage at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. WNBC-TV reported that Coumar Persad, 36, and Davon Webb, 30, are expected to each face felony charges of grand larceny, conspiracy and possession of stolen property. They are also expected to face a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct. According to the channel, citing police and an unnamed TSA official familiar with the case, $39,980 was recovered from the homes of the suspects i connection with the investigation. TSA Employee Attacked Gift Shop Worker, Police Say http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...7/8f8873a3.jpg February 16, 2011 INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis Transportation Security Administration employee was arrested on a battery charge after scuffling with a gift shop employee at Indianapolis International Airport's parking garage on Tuesday. Airport police were called to the fourth floor of the parking garage at about 7:30 a.m., encountering a man who claimed he was punched repeatedly after pulling into a parking space. According to a police report, Brian Hale, 39, claimed he immediately saw a pickup truck parked behind his car, blocking it in, after he parked. Hale told officers that the TSA employee, later identified as Michael Merriman, 59, of Mooresville, approached the driver's side door of his car, shook an angry fist at him and said, "You'll never do that to me again." Airport passenger screener charged in distributing child pornography April 23, 2011|By John Shiffman, Inquirer Staff Writer http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...7/d2d08537.jpg TSA officer Thomas Gordon Jr. is being held. A passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport is facing charges that he distributed more than 100 images of child pornography via Facebook, records show. Federal agents also allege that Transportation Safety Administration Officer Thomas Gordon Jr. of Philadelphia, who routinely searched airline passengers, uploaded explicit pictures of young girls to an Internet site on which he also posted a photograph of himself in his TSA uniform. Homeland Security agents arrested the TSA officer March 24, and he is being held without bail. |
Originally Posted by Fisher1949
(Post 16063130)
Perhaps TSA Incompetence (as you mention) or TSA Failures, TSA Misconduct or some other more professional sounding phrase would imply higher credibility.
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Another thing to consider is that the corresponding links to the original article may expire.
The name of the blog may offend some readers, but I guess you can't change it. |
Great blog. I agree that a name change could help with credibility.
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Nicely done ^. Now if only the media would do something similar. You know, along the lines of "you knew it would be a bad day when 60 minutes showed up at your door...." ;)
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Thanks for the feedback and links. I will take a look through them and add in any stories that I don't already have.
A few thoughts:
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I didnt check, however you may consider using security on the whois of the domain, so that who ever wants to know who actually owns the domain, must get a court order in order to get it. This way, there is a paper trail from them to you if they try to harass or otherwise intimidate you. Also, be sure to enable 'domain locking' If its not offered by your host find out how to apply it. This will put a big wrinkle in DHS's attempts to hijack your domain, which they have been known to do in the passed.
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I’ve gathered up a series of TSA story links since November and have a total of six pages broken into several categories: TSA Criminals; Security & Weapon Detection Failures; Passenger Abuse; TSA Abuse of Disabled, Elderly & Those with Medical Conditions; TSA Lies; TSA Lawsuits; Celebrity Complaints about TSA Scans & Groping and TSA Reform Legislation.
I also came across a possible name in an article titled TSA Scandals. I can post these in sections since each one is nearly a page in Word or if you have a favorite file sharing site I’ll upload the Word document there. I’ll post the first section below. Let me know if this is not what you’re looking for and I won’t tie up thread space with the rest. TSA Criminals The death of Delvonte Tisdale after he stowed away in an aircraft wheel well. http://www.boston.com/news/local/bre...recover_1.html http://www.truecrimereport.com/2011/...mily_plans.php A TSO arrested for kidnapping and attempted rape in ATL. http://lagrangenews.com/view/full_st...REAKING-NEWS-- TSA-employee-accused-of-kidnap--assault The hostage taking by a ABQ TSO in NM that ended in a police shootout. http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1900502.shtml The conviction of a PHL TSO for theft of laptop computers. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local...or_thefts.html TSO fired after attack on traveler in parking lot http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/...,7636643.story TSA screeners and managers arrested for drug use while at work in LAX http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/lo...-80858482.html HNL TSA worker arrested in theft of cash from travelers http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/2...travelers.html The arrest of a MEM TSO for attempted theft of a laptop computer. http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-tsa-se...,4936320.story The arrests of a JFK TSO and LTSO for the theft $160,000 from checked baggage. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/b...3wcuV1xwkEwUJK The conviction of a EWR TSO for theft of $39,000 from passengers bags. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/lo...-80858482.html The WABC report of over 100 theft complaints at LGA in 2010. http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id...76&pid=7879644 The Buffalo TSO was arrested for drug trafficking. http://www.buffalonews.com/city/poli...icle355093.ece Hiring procedures at TSA are under fire http://www.wivb.com/dpp/money/4_your...are-under-fire The arrest of a EWR TSO for impersonating a CBP police agent. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/aviation/index.html Sexual Misconduct at Government Agencies http://www.thenewamerican.com/index....nment-agencies Federal Air Marshal Allegations of Widespread Discrimination. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...rimination.pdf |
Originally Posted by goalie
(Post 16064820)
Nicely done ^. Now if only the media would do something similar. You know, along the lines of "you knew it would be a bad day when 60 minutes showed up at your door...." ;)
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My hope is to create a credible resource that media can use as well. One thing that drives me nuts is that whenever there is a big terror story, CNN will put on Fran Townsend as a security "expert" and opposite her they will put on someone who seems like they just escaped from a loonie bin.
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Well..........TV, at bottom, is about entertainment. Informing viewers is secondary.
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(removing dupe)
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