TSA fires 507 Screeners since 2001 for stealing luggage

Gubment workers

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507 fired among how many thousand over 13 years?

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For a system that checks out it's employees pre-hire, that's pretty high. How many is too many?

Over 40,000 TSA employees. 507 thefts in 13 years? If it were a town of 40,000 people comprised of the same demographics of TSA screeners, and there were 507 thefts over a thirteen year period, that would be pretty damn good. Lets take a step back here.

Its fun to hate the TSA.

Hey, all things considered, I thought my response was pretty fair and balanced.

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any number is too many

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Why? You probably run into dozens of shitty dishonest people throughout your day.

This is a good one... the "poor morale" made them do it.: Brown stated that it was "very convenient to steal" and poor morale within the agency is what causes agents to steal from passengers.

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The TSA has been criticized for an increase in baggage theft after its inception. Reported thefts include both valuable and dangerous goods, such as laptops, jewelry, guns, and knives. Such thefts have raised concerns that the same access might allow bombs to be placed aboard aircraft.

In 2004, over 17,000 claims of baggage theft were reported. As of 2004, 60 screeners had been arrested for baggage theft, a number which had grown to 200 screeners by 2008. 11,700 theft and damage claims were reported to the TSA in 2009, a drop from 26,500 in 2004, which was attributed to the installation of cameras and conveyor belts in airports.

As of 2011, the TSA employs about 60,000 screeners in total (counting both baggage and passenger screening) and approximately 500 TSA agents have been fired or suspended for stealing from passenger luggage since the agency's creation in November 2001. The most affected airports in the United States include three in the New York area: JFK, LaGuardia and Newark.

In 2008 an investigative report by WTAE in Pittsburgh discovered that despite over 400 reports of baggage theft, about half of which the TSA reimbursed passengers for, not a single arrest had been made [NO CONSEQUENCES]. The TSA does not, as a matter of policy, share baggage theft reports with local police departments.

In September 2012, ABC News interviewed former TSA agent Pythias Brown, who has admitted to stealing more than $800,000 worth of items during his employment with the agency. Brown stated that it was "very convenient to steal" and poor morale within the agency is what causes agents to steal from passengers.

The TSA has also been criticized for not responding properly to theft and failing to reimburse passengers for stolen goods. For example, between 2011 and 2012, passengers at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport reported $300,000 in property lost or damaged by the TSA. The agency only reimbursed $35,000 of those claims.Similar statistics were found at Jacksonville International Airport – passengers reported $22,000 worth of goods missing or damaged over the course of 15 months. The TSA only reimbursed $800. LINK

On the night of our rehearsal supper, my father in law gave my wife her grandmother's wedding ring. We never went home again so it came with us on the honeymoon. On the way home she accidentally put it in her checked bag instead of the carry on. frickers found it & stole it.

As seen in Orange is the New Black

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But I also don't think we should be outraged by this just because it's TSA.

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Wrong. We're one click away from radicals slipping a team of unscrupulous TSA peeps $100k (or more) for turning their heads and letting a "device" slip through. Don't be naive... like we all were in 2001. 507 gives them a nice pool to draw from.