0
aphid

Are they ever going to eliminate this disaster?

Recommended Posts

It is so difficult to treat these people with any modicum respect when forced to deal with them. It's the old adage of bad-apples ruining the bunch...

Quote

It's the latest in a series of recent theft allegations against TSA employees:

— Last month, an agent who worked searching checked luggage at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was suspended after the owner of a stolen iPad used the tracking feature on the device to locate it at the agent's home. Police found seven other iPads there.

— Also in January, authorities charged an agent at Miami International Airport with swiping items and luggage and smuggling them out of the airport in a hidden pocket of his work jacket. He was arrested after one of the items, an iPad, was spotted for sale on Craigslist.

— Two other former TSA agents at JFK were sentenced on Jan. 10 to six months in jail and five years' probation for stealing $40,000 from a piece of luggage in January 2011. The agents, Coumar Persad and Davon Webb, had pleaded guilty to grand larceny, obstructing governmental administration and official misconduct.

— Last year, a TSA supervisor and one of his officers pleaded guilty in a scheme that lifted $10,000 to $30,000 from passengers' belongings at Newark Liberty International Airport. A federal judge sentenced the supervisor, Michael Arato, to 2½ years in prison and his subordinate, Al Raimi, to six months of home confinement.



Story here: http://news.yahoo.com/police-tsa-agent-jfk-stole-5k-passenger-163552145.html

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Unfortunately, TSA appears to hire the dumbest of the dumb in the workforce, and pay them pennies. :|



It is No excuse though.

We lost two camera's for work by a TSA inspection, Cop's even told us they believed (99% probability) it was TSA "Agents". Agents even put a seal on the camera box after they opened it.>:(

Matt
An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Nope.

Perfect example of companies shedding responsibilities they didn't want to have to pay for as a result of 9/11.

Prior to that, each airport had their own private screeners paid for by the airlines that operated out of the individual airport. Of course, they passed the cost on to the consumers which meant every ticket was slightly higher, but borne on the backs of the people who actually used the service.

There's no way in hell the airlines would ever go back to that system. They'd claim it would ruin them.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote



Perfect example of companies shedding responsibilities they didn't want to have to pay for as a result of 9/11.

Quote



Correct me if I'm mistaken, but from my memory, I thought the US decided in an extreme knee-jerk to 9/11 that they wanted "more" to keep the citizenry "safe". In doing so, they pulled it under the wing of DHS as authorized by the Patriot Act and ramped-up the number of staff and invasiveness of the procedures and equipment.

Quote

they passed the cost on to the consumers which meant every ticket was slightly higher, but borne on the backs of the people who actually used the service.



When I check the billing info of my airline tickets, there is still an entry for security functions. See the attached from a ticket from Canada on a Canadian carrier through to the USA posted by a friend of mine.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Nope.

Perfect example of companies shedding responsibilities they didn't want to have to pay for as a result of 9/11.

Prior to that, each airport had their own private screeners paid for by the airlines that operated out of the individual airport. Of course, they passed the cost on to the consumers which meant every ticket was slightly higher, but borne on the backs of the people who actually used the service.

There's no way in hell the airlines would ever go back to that system. They'd claim it would ruin them.



:D:D

I dont know where you are told this crap but this is funny

Heck man, there are even examples in the last few months of airlines wanting to take security responcibility and the gov telling them to bugger off:D:D

The TSA was forced down all our throats including the airlines but you gotta make it a big bad company issue

Priceless:D
"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote


— Last month, an agent who worked searching checked luggage at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was suspended after the owner of a stolen iPad used the tracking feature on the device to locate it at the agent's home. Police found seven other iPads there.



suspended? And with or without pay? WTF wasn't he fired? Do we have to wait for a criminal trial to know he needs to go?

Quote


— Also in January, authorities charged an agent at Miami International Airport with swiping items and luggage and smuggling them out of the airport in a hidden pocket of his work jacket. He was arrested after one of the items, an iPad, was spotted for sale on Craigslist.



ditto. If union rules protect thieves, then it's time to renegotiate. (San Francisco has its own level of ridiculousness where bus drivers have an annual allotment of days where they can just not show up nor provide a reason for their absence.)

Quote


— Two other former TSA agents at JFK were sentenced on Jan. 10 to six months in jail and five years' probation for stealing $40,000 from a piece of luggage in January 2011. The agents, Coumar Persad and Davon Webb, had pleaded guilty to grand larceny, obstructing governmental administration and official misconduct.



6 fucking months!? Isn't GRAND larceny a felony?

Maybe coddling criminals isn't an effective deterrent here.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Perfect example of companies shedding responsibilities they didn't want to have to pay for as a result of 9/11.


Correct me if I'm mistaken, but from my memory, I thought the US decided in an extreme knee-jerk to 9/11 that they wanted "more" to keep the citizenry "safe". In doing so, they pulled it under the wing of DHS as authorized by the Patriot Act and ramped-up the number of staff and invasiveness of the procedures and equipment.



Anything like this is subject to lobbying efforts. If you don't think the airlines lobbied to make things the way they currently are and would be vehemently opposed to returning to the old way, you're very mistaken.


Quote

Quote

they passed the cost on to the consumers which meant every ticket was slightly higher, but borne on the backs of the people who actually used the service.


When I check the billing info of my airline tickets, there is still an entry for security functions. See the attached from a ticket from Canada on a Canadian carrier through to the USA posted by a friend of mine.



Right, they're taxes and collected through the airlines, but you'll notice they're TAXES from the big bad ol' government and not "the price of doing business" by the airline. How would you rather have your customers look at charges?
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Does anyone else see the irony here?

1. TSA - the basic idea is to protect passengers, right?

2. They can pat down and radiate civilians but they can't keep their own people from smuggling stuff?

3. And they want you to pay for the privilege of exposing your stuff to their thieves?
My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

When you pay for security, you get EXACTLY what you pay for.



Quickly then off the top of my head, there may be a couple of possible refinements to make TSA more effective...

1) Fire the bottom 65 percent and reasonably increase the wages of the remainder. Couple that with better training and a more focused mission-goal, or,

2) Just contract it all out to BlackWater/Xe.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I can't believe no one here isn't blaming the iPADs



Just for giggles, I think I'll blame the victims. But seriously, folks, putting valuable stuff into your checked-in luggage is just asking for it. I never do that; anything of any real value goes in my carry-on, or it doesn't go. And when I go through security, I inventory my stuff carefully, before I even put my shoes back on.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

But seriously, folks, putting valuable stuff into your checked-in luggage is just asking for it.




She shouldn't have been dressed like that.....


(I thought I'd just get ahead of the game - it's a typical speaker's corner gambit - sorry about that :ph34r:)

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Just contract it all out to BlackWater/Xe.



That would be overkill. Literally.

What we need is a reasonable policy and technology which allows for travel via flying aluminum tubes without the need for either jackbooted thugs or nincompoops creating theater.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Just contract it all out to BlackWater/Xe.



That would be overkill. Literally.



I guess the sarcasm failed to be visible dripping from my sentence

Quote

What we need is a reasonable policy and technology which allows for travel via flying aluminum tubes without the need for either jackbooted thugs or nincompoops creating theater.



Absolutely no argument from me on this. I venture things won't change much until the pandering of keeping the citizenry safe fades from the average mindset.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Anything like this is subject to lobbying efforts. If you don't think the airlines lobbied to make things the way they currently are and would be vehemently opposed to returning to the old way, you're very mistaken.


Correct. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which created the laughable TSA, was, in point of fact, written by airline lobbyists. It's the same with every industry that is "regulated" by the government. Corporatocracy at its finest.
_________________________________________
-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Does anyone else see the irony here?

1. TSA - the basic idea is to protect passengers, right?

2. They can pat down and radiate civilians but they can't keep their own people from smuggling stuff?

3. And they want you to pay for the privilege of exposing your stuff to their thieves?



Don't forget the valuable services that TSA will provide for the Super Bowl. They are providing "First Observer" training to all the vendors and parking lot attendants for game day. These guys will be on the hunt for terrorists.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Anything like this is subject to lobbying efforts. If you don't think the airlines lobbied to make things the way they currently are and would be vehemently opposed to returning to the old way, you're very mistaken.


Correct. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which created the laughable TSA, was, in point of fact, written by airline lobbyists. It's the same with every industry that is "regulated" by the government. Corporatocracy at its finest.



Wow. This has certainly derailed from the original question, which wasn't about who is to blame, but is it EVER going to be fixed?

Regardless, I may need a History Lesson here. I seem to recall the US airline industry was deregulated in 1978. This, because our carriers began immediately whining they couldn't compete with unregulated US companies serving large airports just across the border*. Seattle, for example.

Or is the suggestion that ANY regulatory oversight is wrong? Say, like Annual Inspections, or FAA pilot licensing requirements.

And that's what is to blame for the exponential growth and onerous actions of TSA against the flying public?

*ETA: Which, as it turned out was nonsense. We have just as many Carriers as before, and they are, on balance, financially stronger.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

10 years after the start of TSA, and I have to ask "how many terrorists have they stopped?"



Sadly, even with a Freedom Of Information request, you may have more success in determining the number of iPads they've stolen.

I'm curious. Just "when" are the American's going to "take their country back?" (Sorry, I'm a sucker for catchy slogans)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Wow. This has certainly derailed from the original question, which wasn't about who is to blame, but is it EVER going to be fixed?



If you want to know how a story ends, frequently you need to know how it started.

The explanation of how it began gives you a pretty big clue as to why it's not ending.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Wow. This has certainly derailed from the original question, which wasn't about who is to blame, but is it EVER going to be fixed?



If you want to know how a story ends, frequently you need to know how it started.

The explanation of how it began gives you a pretty big clue as to why it's not ending.



Having asked for specific clarification for my own education and receiving none, I attempted to teach myself some history.

Quote

The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA, Pub.L. 107-71 November 19, 2001) was enacted by the 107th United States Congress in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Act created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) within the U.S. Department of Transportation. However, with the passage of the Homeland Security Act, the TSA was later transferred to the Department of Homeland Security. The legislation (S. 1447) was sponsored by Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings and co-sponsored by 30 other Senators.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_and_Transportation_Security_Act

Perhaps I'm too stupid, but I read suggestions here it's because of "regulation" of the airline industry, even though it was deregulated in 1978, or that it's lobbyists and businesses that created it.

What I see, rather, is the result of a massive knee-jerk reaction in 2001 that hasn't fixed anything, apparently hasn't prevented anything, has cost your nation (and countries wishing to fly to and within the US) a load of money and massive inconvenience and continues to grow unabated courtesy of the DHS.

And it won't change, in my opinion, not because of those bad lobbyists, or businesses, or either because of less or more regulation of airlines, but simply because too many people still buy the message that they are being kept "safe", are more concerned they have power for their Prius, a Big Mac is still under $2, and America is still the world's best (pick pronoun).

That's just my opinion. I was hoping to solicit alternative viewpoints for me to consider objectively.

John

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0