Ex-TSA agent: "We steal from travelers all the time"

[Byker]

It's just one giant gibs-me-dat. There's article after article I found on
Google Search: http://tinyurl.com/y8xnsxaa

I knew theft was high among TSA but, JEEZ. I won't fly unless I absolutely
HAVE to. This happens in mostly minority-infested airports, like Atlanta,
Nashville, NYC, Chicago, Houston, etc. It's just a gubmint make-work job for
bottom feeders...
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A TSA agent convicted of stealing more than $800,000 worth of goods from
travelers said this type of theft is “commonplace” among airport security.
Almost 400 TSA officers have been fired for stealing from passengers since
2003.

Pythias Brown, a former Transportation Security Administration officer at
Newark Liberty International Airport, spent four years stealing everything
he could from luggage and security checkpoints, including clothing, laptops,
cameras, Nintendo Wiis, video games and cash.

Speaking publicly for the first time after being released after three years
in prison, Brown told ABC News that he used the X-ray scanners to locate the
most valuable items to snatch.

“I could tell whether it was cameras or laptops or portable cameras or
whatever kind of electronic was in the bag,” he said.

Brown often worked alone, screening luggage behind the ticket counters. He
was frequently told the overhead surveillance cameras, installed to prevent
theft, were not working.

“It was so easy,” he said. “I walked right out of the checkpoint with a
Nintendo Wii in my hand. Nobody said a word.”

With more electronics than any one individual could need, Brown began to
sell the stolen items on eBay. At the time of his arrest, he was selling 80
cameras, video games and computers online. Brown said the theft was
comparable to an addiction.

“It was like being on drugs,” he said. “I was like, ‘What am I doing?’ but
the next day I was right back at it.”

Brown was finally caught after selling a camera he stole from the luggage of
a CNN producer. When he sold the camera on eBay, he forgot to remove the
news networks’ logo stickers.

“I got complacent,” he said.

TSA’s culture of theft

But while Brown believes he might have been one of the worst thieves at the
TSA, he imagines the agency’s culture makes it easy for others to do the
same. Many officers don’t care about their work and complain about low pay
and being treated badly, he claims, which prompts them to steal. To make it
even easier to get away with, TSA managers also never search their employees’
bags.

The agency says it has a zero-tolerance policy for theft and terminates the
contracts of all thieves within the TSA. In the past ten years, almost 400
TSA officers have been fired for stealing, 11 of which were fired this year.

ABC’s interview with Brown highlights the extent of the dilemma passengers
face when traveling with valuables. Brown is just one of many officers
caught in the act of stealing goods worth thousands.

In February, 2011, two TSA officers were arrested for stealing $40,000 in
cash from a checked bag in New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. Using an
X-ray machine, the men found that the bag contained $170,000 and removed
some of the money.

In the first two months of this year, a TSA baggage screener in Orlando was
arrested for stealing valuables by hiding them in a laptop-sized hidden
pocket in his jacket and selling the goods on Craigslist. And, a New
Jersey-based agent stole $5,000 in cash from a passenger’s jacket as he was
going through security

While in April, a Texas-based TSA officer stole eight iPads from checked
bags, while another officer stole a $15,000 watch from a passenger at the
Los Angeles International Airport in May.

“It was very commonplace, very,” Brown said, describing the frequency of
theft within the TSA.

“TSA is probably the worst personnel manager that we have in the entire
federal government,” said Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House
Transportation Committee. “It is an outrage to the public and, actually, to
our aviation security system.”

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