Boggie Dog

The answer was no less satisfactory 5 years ago than it is today.

I know of one group of federal employees who cannot take personal items like cell phones into the work place.

All TSA need do is write a Management Directive prohibiting phones and anything else that should not be at the checkpoint.

exerda

DEN TSA has IME always been among the worst in the country. I never got an acceptable resolution for the way they handled a false ETD alarm after a "random" WTMD alarm--when they used the Boston bombers as an excuse for threatening me. They groped me three times for that one, albeit with the back of the hand as required, but the threats were totally unacceptable (including insinuation they were calling the FBI).

I am not surprised at all that they ran this gig at DEN.

Himeno

Until late last year, my work did not permit employees to have our phones with us while on company time. That rule was only recently changed to permit the use of phones for work related purposes (eg, to use the company app to help a customer).

I see no reason why TSA can't have a similar directive. Unless they are a manager and require the phone to contact people for work, or there is some tool available to TSOs on their phones that can help the screening process, there is no reason they shouldn't be leaving their phones in their lockers in some back room.

GUWonder

"A few bad apples"? What else is to be expected from a rotten tree, a tree in need of being chopped down and removed before the disease spreads further?

Boggie Dog

I agree completely.

TSA is an outstanding example of what happpens when government federalizes private business. I can't say the word here but it begins with F, rhymes with Truck, and is followed by the word Up.

TSA is a failed experiment and should be disbanded.

Let the airlines be responsible for the security of their customers and property. Should they fail then let them held accountable for that failure.

Airport/aircraft security should be returned to the FAA.

petaluma1

I am glad to see that Melvin is get his head handed to him in the responses to his comments. Not, of course, that he will read them and not that he will understand that this or some version of it has been going on for close to 5 years now.

KRSW

NO, you CANNOT trust the x-ray operator.

Case in point: I had stocked up on cheese from Murray's in NYC and was leaving via JFK. X-ray screener flagged my carry-on and said the cheese wasn't allowed and I'd have to "surrender" it. She'd already started to open the bag and remove it for me. No option to mail it home, no option to check it. One of the other screeners saw this and started going off on her about it. He said he'd transferred to JFK from another airport and has seen too much of this going on, particularly with the x-ray ops and food, which apparently the x-ray ops would keep and eat themselves. He grabbed a supervisor, showed him the situation, the cheese was placed back in my bag and that was all that was done. No removal of the x-ray op.

If the x-ray op is willing to steal from pax, they're just as likely to do something else which isn't legal either, like pax gropes and accepting money to let things go through security -- a major security hole.

Likewise, there are no shortage of TSA workers who steal from pax. Even supervisors. Don't forget about the bribes from drug dealers at PHL, PBI, LAX, HPN, and probably more but I don't have time to search for them.

As of ~2013, TSA had fired >500 people for theft. AND, giving the batting average of fired vs. suspended in other incidents (30%), that means that probably 3,000 screeners have had theft issues that TSA is aware of... This doesn't include the # of screeners who haven't been caught.

All in all, the TSA, as a whole, are NOT capable of providing any security. Just look at the links I posted above. The sheer number of them indicates major structural and procedural flaws within the TSA which puts the country's security in jeopardy daily. Notice I said "puts" not "may put". This is an active threat, moreso than any terrorist jihadi type threat.

The only solution is to disband the TSA and start over. They've had 13 years to fix problems, but reports consistently show TSA employee misconduct/theft is on the rise every year.

I feel (somewhat?) bad for those who actually do things the right way... BUT, there are other places to work. I've quit jobs where there was misconduct going on and management refused to address it. The misconduct didn't affect me, BUT I refuse to work with a place where that sort of thing is tolerated.

FliesWay2Much

http://www.newsandtribune.com/opinio...5576486ef.html

.. and ...

Darn it, Mel, I guess you were interfering with the ethics process...

Boggie Dog

Another curiosity is the Denver FSD. He was Denver FSD then assigned as Assistant Administrator for 1 year 10 months before returning to Denver as FSD.

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-mclaughlin/6/a01/676

I believe that most government assignments have a minimum two year duty assignment. His tour was short of that two years. Then to go from Assistant Administrator to a somewhat lower assignment makes me question if the Denver FSD hasn't had some issues of his own.

I'm speculating that TSA Denver may have more problems than currently known.

FliesWay2Much

For the record, here is what a friend of mine just submitted to the TSA Blog. I doubt it will ever see the light of day...

No worries. The DHS IG and Jason Chaffez's committee will have a copy on Tuesday if this isn't posted on Propaganda Village.

mikeef

You are looking at that data the wrong way. Only one percent of the employees are thieves. I like those odds!

Mike

mikeef

Or just one day? Every day is National Opt Out Day!

Mike

Boggie Dog

Agree, if a person is going to be felt up when going through TSA screening then I say give them more than they want.

Boggie Dog

I don't like those odds one bit!

At a TSA checkpoint every TSA employee has had some form of a background investigation.

There are numerous other employees in the immediate vicinity that should help to make theft or any other crime difficult.

There are TSA Leads, Supervisors, and Managers who should be aware of the possibility of criminal acts and be alert for any potential wrong doing.

And lastly, TSA's own hyped up Behavior Detection Officers should be looking at all avenues for people will ill intent.

Yet the crimes continue.

I suggest that TSA has a systemic failure and has not dealt with the root causes of that failure.

chollie

That number really doesn't adequately convey the problem.

How many people have been victimized in various ways just by the 500 people who were stupid enough to get caught?

We know that two TSOs at DEN victimized at least 10 innocent pax.

And, as Boggie pointed out, how many people still employed by TSA enabled these 500 (including the TSA investigator) to go about their business unchallenged?