TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers

Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by tonymet on Friday September 15, 2023 @01:35AM (#37518877)

Low status, meager pay, moderate authority, high opportunity. Almost a guarantee that the theft rate is very high.

Public awareness of this theft would be very damaging so there’s also a great pressure to cover it up.

I’m guessing 75% of actual theft is marked as a “legitimate banned item”. I’ve had TSA agents claim high value items were not allowed so they could be stolen ( the encounter was outside the main security area with less concentrated camera coverage.).

In other words if there are reports of ~ 100 thefts a year it’s likely 4x that amount.

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by bagels on Friday September 15, 2023 @01:45AM (#37518955)

What kind of item?

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by tonymet on Friday September 15, 2023 @10:13AM (#37523254)

expensive cologne

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by a_bonobo on Friday September 15, 2023 @02:00AM (#37519059)

>Low status, meager pay, moderate authority, high opportunity.

But isn't that the same for other countries' airport security workers too?

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by Const-me on Friday September 15, 2023 @03:41AM (#37519808)

In Europe, income is generally more evenly distributed across various skills, professions, and sectors of the economy.

IMO this makes society here much more pleasant. Personally, I wouldn’t be comfortable living in a society where people who grow, prepare, or serve food, educate children, or maintain the cleanliness of streets are on the brink of survival. Even ignoring empathy which is subjective, unhappy people rarely do a great job. The original article is a good example.

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by tonymet on Friday September 15, 2023 @01:09PM (#37526180)

Who says they aren’t stealing?

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by tonymet on Friday September 15, 2023 @01:10PM (#37526186)

In poorer countries like Vietnam it’s expected that you will have to bribe airport security & customs

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by Trencin on Friday September 15, 2023 @02:43AM (#37519361)

I don't think it is fair to tarnish the reputation of all airport professionals across the world like that.

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by thefurdrake on Friday September 15, 2023 @09:46AM (#37522893)

He didn't.

He was referring to the entirety of the TSA.

And they're not professionals, they're unskilled labor with extra steps.

I'd feel more inclined to empathy if TSA didn't turn every airport adventure into a souless anxiety spree for the sake of regularly failing to catch dangerous items brought onto aircraft.

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by tonymet on Friday September 15, 2023 @01:11PM (#37526207)

We’re just talking about a single role at the airport . And there’s crime in this world whether you want to discuss it or not.

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Re:TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers by Kerb_ on Sunday September 17, 2023 @03:37PM (#37548589)

[delayed]

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