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Blog for James Bovard (email me)
TSA's Looting Problem (8/18/2004)
from an op-ed of mine in today's New York Times -
Last week four screeners for the Transportation Security Administration were arrested at Kennedy and La Guardia airports for stealing money, jewelry and other valuables from checked bags. The agents were caught in a sting operation after a torrent of complaints about luggage thefts. These arrests likely represent only a fraction of the abuses nationwide.
In April, four agents in Detroit were arrested for stealing laptop computers, cameras and other items from checked luggage. In June, four agents were arrested at the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., airport on charges of stealing cameras, laptop computers, perfume, CD players and money. Also in June, one screener was arrested in Philadelphia for stealing $335 from a passenger passing through his checkpoint, and 13 screeners were arrested in New Orleans on charges of stealing valuables from checked luggage. Many have been suspended with full pay while awaiting the outcome of the cases.
According to the transportation agency, more than 28,000 claims of loss or damage have been filed.
... Congress requires the transportation agency to check all airline baggage with bomb-detection machinery or with hand-held bomb detectors. More than $5 billion has been spent by the government and airports to purchase and install the new equipment. Unfortunately, the machines are unreliable. In 2002, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta told Congress that the machines have a false-positive rate of 35 percent - and if a bag tests positive, it must be searched by hand. To do this, agents routinely examine baggage in closed areas, far from prying eyes.
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Some Americans may believe that luggage thefts are a small price to pay for making air travel safe. But the safety is a mirage. Tests by the Government Accountability Office and other federal agencies have found that the airport safety net continues to be full of holes. Clark Kent Ervin, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, told Congress in April that T.S.A. screeners performed poorly in response to covert tests. More recently, the 9/11 commission report warned that "major vulnerabilities still exist'' in aviation security.
Airport security must be overhauled. Instead of relying on thousands of federal agents following often pointless routines (like treating grandmothers as potential hijackers), aviation security can be improved by relying on innovative procedures, including the use of private screeners trained to higher standards than T.S.A. agents, focusing on passengers who pose the greatest apparent risk and ceasing to shield airports and airlines from liability law suits if they fail to protect their customers.
President Bush said in 2002 that the law that created the T.S.A. "greatly enhanced the protections for America's passengers.'' But it takes more than long lines and delays at airport checkpoints to defeat terrorist threats. Is it wise to trust the T.S.A. to make air travel safe when it has a hard time protecting Americans from its own agents?
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