Hungry luggage-inspecting TSOs at ALB unable to resist yummy chocolate cake
Dec 23, 2011, 10:46 am
#1
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Hungry luggage-inspecting TSOs at ALB unable to resist yummy chocolate cake
A short quote from an article in the Palm Beach Post:
Here's the link:
Palm Beach Post:
Cerabino: Dessert-toting traveler thinks TSA takes cake
Updated: 10:28 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011
Posted: 10:15 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011
when the [PAX] was preparing to fly back home, his mother-in-law put a boxed chocolate cake along with some boxes of Christmas ornaments inside his suitcase.
andIt was a chocolate cake made by Hannaford, the supermarket chain. But what Maltese noticed most of all was that about a third of the cake was missing.....There was also a "Notice of Bag Inspection" form in his suitcase from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to inform him that the contents of his bag had been checked before his flight from Albany.
Here's the link:
Palm Beach Post:
Cerabino: Dessert-toting traveler thinks TSA takes cake
Updated: 10:28 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011
Posted: 10:15 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011
Dec 23, 2011, 12:50 pm
#3
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What is the chain of custody on those bags? Was there an opportunity for a baggage handler to have a bite? And were the bags within camera range at all times? We did get this from the TSA:
At this point, I'm not ready to call out the TSA as the guilty party.
Mike
"We reviewed the videotape for the entire period of time that the passenger's bag would have gone through the screening process. At no time did we see anything resembling a cake removed from any suitcase. There was a suitcase with boxes, and those boxes were not opened. I can't guarantee that was the passenger's cake, but I want to stress that nobody opened a box with a cake or anything resembling a cake."
Mike
Dec 23, 2011, 1:37 pm
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I grew up in the Albany area. ALB is not that large of an airport, so the baggage handling area is pretty small. I can't imagine a scenario where an open checked bag would have the opportunity to be handled separately. I would have to agree that this is strange MO for clerks. I would have expected them to steal the whole cake. The evidence has to be there somewhere: a knife (plastic, of course) covered with frosting, gloves smeared with cake & frosting, or dirty paper plates in the trash.
I also note that it's amazing the bad press items that Kristin Lee feels compelled to drop everything and squish with a full-court press.
I grew up in the Albany area. ALB is not that large of an airport, so the baggage handling area is pretty small. I can't imagine a scenario where an open checked bag would have the opportunity to be handled separately. I would have to agree that this is strange MO for clerks. I would have expected them to steal the whole cake. The evidence has to be there somewhere: a knife (plastic, of course) covered with frosting, gloves smeared with cake & frosting, or dirty paper plates in the trash.
I also note that it's amazing the bad press items that Kristin Lee feels compelled to drop everything and squish with a full-court press.
Dec 26, 2011, 4:13 pm
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The Daily Mail's take on this story:
The Daily Mail:
Did TSA inspectors help themselves to a slice of a passenger's CAKE?
Last updated at 7:43 AM on 24th December 2011
After discussing the missing slice of cake, the article goes on to say:
The Daily Mail:
Did TSA inspectors help themselves to a slice of a passenger's CAKE?
Last updated at 7:43 AM on 24th December 2011
After discussing the missing slice of cake, the article goes on to say:
"This is just the latest in a string of bizarre behaviour by TSA inspectors."
The article then proceeds to describe the Freddie Gibbs marijuana and Jill Filipovic vibrator incidents.
Dec 26, 2011, 4:16 pm
#6
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There is no chain of custody, thus a huge FAIL by the TSA. Even if they found a bomb in a piece of luggage they would have no proof that the passenger was the one who put it there.
Dec 26, 2011, 6:55 pm
#7
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As to someone stating there is no chain of custody, that could not be more wrong. There certainly is a chain of custody.
http://www.ifly.com/albany-airport/baggage-and-security
Note the following:
Quote: "Baggage checkpoints* are now the first checkpoints you will encounter at the airport. Security screeners will screen all checked-baggage before it is loaded onto the planes"
This is a semi-inline baggage system. Which means the first people to have access to the bag are TSA employees, and the last people to have access to the bag are both airport and airline employees.
Dec 26, 2011, 7:42 pm
#8
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Using those definitions, I fail to see how "that could not be more wrong." But you may be using a different definition. What is it, and where can it be found?
Dec 27, 2011, 10:16 am
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And, yet again, I ask (for the umpteen-millionth time) why bags are not sealed by the TSA once they pass inspection.
Dec 27, 2011, 10:41 am
#10
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If they did seal it, they wouldn't have plausible deniability of their employees having pilfered bags. As is the case with most of what the TSA does/doesn't do, it is built around helping and/or protecting them, not American citizens.
Dec 27, 2011, 1:08 pm
#13
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Would be really worth the money to me, because not only can the TSA and airline workers not steal anything (or even worse, smuggle anything) nor will stuff fall out if a zipper comes undone.
And if the bag is tampered with, there's proof (as long as there are no shrink wrap machines in the back rooms).
Dec 28, 2011, 10:53 am
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When I brought this idea up on this forum a couple of years ago, I got the song and dance from our resident TSOs about how it was unworkable and expensive and time consuming and every other reason under the sun why they couldn't do something like that.
So, I will continue to believe that the TSA is just as culpable in stealing from baggage as the baggage handlers are.
Dec 28, 2011, 11:29 am
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I agree completely.
When I brought this idea up on this forum a couple of years ago, I got the song and dance from our resident TSOs about how it was unworkable and expensive and time consuming and every other reason under the sun why they couldn't do something like that.
So, I will continue to believe that the TSA is just as culpable in stealing from baggage as the baggage handlers are.
When I brought this idea up on this forum a couple of years ago, I got the song and dance from our resident TSOs about how it was unworkable and expensive and time consuming and every other reason under the sun why they couldn't do something like that.
So, I will continue to believe that the TSA is just as culpable in stealing from baggage as the baggage handlers are.
In some cases, I would hazard a guess that TSA employees steal illicit items without any concern for repercussions, as the owner can't exactly file a police report.