Posted on 12/17/2004 9:18:58 AM PST by yatros from flatwater
The travel season is here, but, do you feel safe sending your luggage through the airport? The surveillance video is disturbing. A TSA worker at JFK airport in New York, allegedly rifling through a bag planted by police, removing jewels and money. This suspect was charged with larceny and possession of stolen property. Theft has been a problem for as long as travelers have been checking their bags, but now, the TSA is keeping track. Since taking control of baggage screening nearly two years ago, it's received more than 28,000 complaints of damaged, lost or stolen items. The total value: nearly $36 million. But no one knows how many of those are false claims. Air traveler Randy Rutland says, "Everything was in the luggage when we left from here." Rutland, of Louisiana, claims it happened to him while flying out of New Orleans. He says his luggage was checked, then secured with blue tags to indicate they'd been hand searched by the TSA, but when he got his bags, a brand new digital camera and his daughter's compact discs were missing. "I think somebody went through our bags, saw a nice camera and some cd's and they took 'em," Rutland says. The value: $1600. So far, the TSA has settled some 19,000 claims totaling $2.5 million, including $152,000 worth of claims at LAX, $111,000 dollars at JFK, followed by Seattle, Las Vegas and Oakland. The TSA is now adding surveillance cameras in baggage handling and secure areas to watch for theft. TSA Administrator, Admiral David Stone, says, "In issues of theft, there's a zero-tolerance and we need to make sure that we route that out of our organization because it gets to the very core of who we are and that trust and confidence bond with the American people." Only 66 TSA workers have been arrested out of 60,000 present and past TSA screeners, and for every TSA employee who handles a bag, it's touched by four airline employees. Still, the TSA itself warns travelers to pack valuables, like jewelry and money in carry-on bags.
Thats right but at our local airport, the security people will lock your bag after they search it, if you want them to.
"To professionalize, you must federalize."
~ Former Senator Tom Daschle, (D-SD), 2001
High Fives!
no. see how directly and clearly i answered your question? let me ask mine again: do you think infirm elderly should be exempt from security checks?
The article doesn't say he was fired so i suspect he was not.
I was thinking the same.
totally? no. see how directly and clearly i answered your question? let me ask mine again: do you think infirm elderly should be exempt from security checks?
Looks to me like their "insurance" is pretty worthless considering all the exceptions.
It's nice to see Good government at work.
AMEN!
My setiments exactly.
I havent' bought a plane ticket since and will not until they stop with the PC nonsense. Let em go under.
a) Installing steep, narrow entrance stairs to ward off the infirm elderly burglar
or
b) Making it plain that the residents of the home are armed
Ah yes, but before the TSA, we could employ decent locks.
Shipped it how?
Sending cash through the US Mail? NEVER a good idea.
I'm with you, I refuse to get on a plane. Haven't flown since that airplane crash in Hopewell PA with the rudder problem, approx. 1994.
It depends on the airport. Flew from Albuquerque to Boise last month. The ABQ Southwest ticket agent watched my bags (including winter work clothes, boots and tools in a duffel bag) as they were searched out of sight from the ticket counter. They were originally secured with cable ties, but she soon came back and said TSA didn't have any to resecure them. I always carry extras with me and gave her them. The bags were secure when I picked them up in Boise. Coming back, I watched the agents search the bag, but left before they resecured it with cable ties. Unfortunately, they messed up and cable tied it incorrectly so it was unsecure but intact when I arrived home.
My advice is to carry heavy duty cable ties and request (strongly if necessary) that the ticket agent make sure that the TSA properly secure your bags after searching. Having he/she watching also ensures no TSA theft will occur.
Absolutely. I'm packing for my Christmas trip home today. The laptop, digi-cam, and money stay with me. So do the Christmas presents even though they're all pretty cheap, I don't want them getting smashed.
My clothes go in the checked bag... I'll be mad if I lose my Christmas dress, but otherwise, it's all easily replacable.
Of course I do my best not to have to check things at all, but this time that's not possible.
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