Posted on 08/23/2004 1:16:48 PM PDT by PinnedAndRecessed
One screener had four Social Security numbers and a conviction for shoplifting, and as seen on a surveillance videotape exclusively obtained by CBS News, he used his position to steal jewelry and more from airline passengers' bags. WCBS's Cheryl Fiandaca reports for The Early Show.
Transportation Security Administration screener Clarence Henry is supposed to be looking for bombs in checked luggage. Instead, he's looking for jewelry and cash. A surveillance video appears to show Henry carefully picking through the jewelry case in a bag - looking for expensive pieces and pocketing them when he finds them.
And Henry isn't the only federal employee accused of stealing from passengers. Last week, police arrested three more screeners for stealing and, through search warrants, uncovered a treasure trove of stolen property including video recorders, cameras, laptops and large amounts of cash and jewelry.
Queens D.A. Richard Brown says, “What is especially troubling about this case is that individuals charged with the responsibility of ensuring the safety and security of our nation's airlines would be pilfering from the traveling public rather than carrying out their responsibilities.”
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Brings new meaning to the phrase, "Check your bags."
"A surveillance video appears to show Henry carefully picking through the jewelry case in a bag - looking for expensive pieces and pocketing them when he finds them."
What sort of dimwit puts jewelry in the bag. This has been going on for a long time.
Perhaps, but what of value can you put in your checked luggage if this is the case?
Dirty shorts and socks I guess....
Fine. The DIMocrats begged Dubya to make the airport screeners Federal Employees of the Department of Homeland Security. Let this screener face federal charges.
I had a couple of things missing from a bag that came back with the TSA seal on it - nothing expensive, and I didn't think much of it at the time - I thought I had forgotten them at home.
Out of dozens of flights this was the only time I ever lost anything.
I think it just didn't get stuffed back in, probably wound up in someone else's bag.
Seems to me that a simple solution to this problem is to set up baggage examination tables/conveyors like casino card tables, where you have an 'eye in the sky' camera sitting 8 feet above the table and the employee KNOWING THAT IT'S THERE WATCHING HIM/HER.
which also means they're unionized and can get away with
murder without being fired.
> ... simple solution to this problem is to set up baggage
> examination tables/conveyors like casino card tables, ...
Or Post Office sorting rooms, where such are common,
and for the same reason.
These persistent TSA scandals are yet another reason
to avoid airline stocks.
What do you need when you get to the other end that can't go on your person? That's what goes in your checked bag.
I took a trip to Japan recently. When I opened my luggage at my destination in Japan, I found a printed official form on the top of the contents of my largest duffel telling me that it had been opened and searched, and apologizing for the inconvenience. The probable reason was the bottle of whiskey that I had placed in the middle of my clothes so that it would survive the rigors of the luggage hold of the plane. It did, and also survived the search.
Zee Drugs are those little packets that can be found around many offices and include throat lozenges, ibuprofin, etc.
It was annoying because this last trip I NEEDED some asprin because I got sick the last few days. I ended up with some kind of chinese aspirin or something. I'm afraid I might sprout another limb or something.
If anyone can figure out what these are...please let me know. They are 25MG(took 28 to equal 2 normal aspirin) and you can fit 6 of them on a dime.
They will do this as soon as CCTV is positioned at security gates...sorry, not going to happen. They will not allow being watched.
All metal items must be removed before you go through security. Your items are not safe as often they will go through the x-ray before you are permitted to walk through the gate. There is no effort made to keep someone else from grabbing your flashy items.
Didn't Mayor Bob's wife have a half a million dollars in jewelry stolen a couple of years ago at a New York airport when she went through security?
taking 28 pills at one time should set off a tiny internal alarm that something isn't quite right with the situation.
I can't believe that people put valuables in their checked baggage, to be cherry-picked when the screeners "check" them. When I have to fly somewhere (and I really try to avoid it) I have anything that's worth anything in my carry-on. If they want to dig through my socks and underwear, they're not going to find much. How exciting could it be for the screeners to paw through a middle-aged woman's underwear, after all?
>> ... simple solution to this problem is to set up baggage
>> examination tables/conveyors like casino card tables, ...
>Or Post Office sorting rooms, where such are common,
and for the same reason.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Unfortunately we are a nation of sheep and not feathered birds.
There are countless cameras pointed at us when we go to the airport and post office. This is why you now have to enter a post office to mail even a small package, so they can get you on camera.
Too bad the crooks are in charge and protect their own. The inmates are running the asylum.
Also, if they can remove an item unwatched, then they can also plant an item unwatched.
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