Free Republic

Police released new surveillance video of a Spokane TSA Screener convicted of stealing drugs out of passenger's luggage. Screener Wendy Swason's co-workers turned her in for swiping pain killers out of the bags she was supposed to be searching for explosives. A hidden camera caught her in the act of stealing and even swallowing a passenger's pills. Now the airport is bringing in explosive detection machines that search for compounds to power bombs, which mean fewer bags will have to be opened by screeners. Spokane International Airport Spokesman Todd Woodard says, "it's the same technology you see in places like...

In the months after Sept. 11, airport screeners confiscated record numbers of nail clippers and scissors. But nearly half the time, they failed to stop the guns, knives or simulated explosives carried past checkpoints by undercover investigators with the Transportation Department's inspector general. In fact, even as the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) evacuated terminals and pulled passengers from more than 600 planes because of security breaches, a confidential memo obtained by USA TODAY shows investigators noticed no discernable improvements by screeners in the period from November through early February, when the tests were conducted. At screening checkpoints,...