Besieged by misconduct, TSA sows culture of dysfunction and distrust
Topics: Criminal Justice / National Security
By Andrew Becker / March 14, 2016
The message, broadcast in an internal video to the 60,000-strong federal agency, was clear: The Transportation Security Administration had an integrity problem, not to mention a public relations headache.
Against the lavender-hued backdrop of the Homeland Security Department logo, then-Deputy Administrator John Halinski announced that employee misconduct and criminal behavior – along with the headlines those misdeeds spurred – were “damaging to the mission and to our reputation as a high-performance counterterrorism agency.”
“Folks, we’re better than this. We can do better than this,” Halinksi said in the recorded announcement, which was required viewing for the agency’s workforce. “Illegal activity of any kind will not be tolerated, and supervisors must lead by example.”
Released months after a House hearing during which lawmakers grilled TSA officials about misconduct, the 2013 video outlined a strategy to target corruption, which was on the rise. From 2010 to 2012, the TSA investigated 9,600 misconduct cases, nearly half of which merited the employee being suspended or fired, according to a 2013 U.S. Government Accountability Office report.
“Folks, we’re better than this. We can do better than this,”
"High performance??!!" Whenever I'm at the airport, I see plenty of gold-bricking, slovenly, low IQ TSA "folks", "folks" who couldn't get a job at McDonalds.
And no, Mr Halinski, you cannot and will not "do better". Its not in the nature of unaccountable government employees.
Fire them all and privatize.