It's not just the law; it's very clearly their job.
This isn't a thing where the TSA guy saw a pack of tissues left on a bench and pocketed them for himself.
This is a thing where travelers are forced to separate even from valuable items under stress from travel, family and time constraints. So the default assumption when you come across an expensive item like an iPad is "this must belong to someone." You know they're coming back for it, either in person or by phone.
Option 1: TSA agents steal things from your bags.
Option 2: TSA agents steal things that you forget at the checkpoint.
Both options suck, but option 2 doesn't suck quite as much. That's all I'm saying. I'm not defending the guy. It's just that the headline made me think #1 was the case, but it turned out to be #2, and #2 isn't quite as bad as #1. Of course, both are inexcusable, illegal, and wrong.
$800,000!!!
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/convicted-tsa-officer-reveals-...
This was so ridiculously easy that the only way that he got caught is that he got VERY lazy, and didn't remove the CNN stickers from a camera he stole from a CNN producer's luggage.
Others that worked with him seemed to know about it — one co-worker even warned him, "They were talking about you in the office. Be careful." But no one did anything.
Absurd.
You also seem to be implying that his "mistake" was taking something easy to track. Wow.
I'm not sure why people downvoted me and replied with such stern disagreement. I used as many hedge-words as I could ("slightly incorrect", "isn't quite as bad", etc) and was describing my subjective impression. In no way did I blame ABC for the loss of their iPad, and I called the TSA agent's action inexcusable.
We're on the same side here.
Seriously. If someone leaves their car running on the street that's a stupid thing to do, but does it give anyone permission to steal it? "Oh look ... I 'found' this car."
Finder's Keepers applies to a $5 bill you find on the sidewalk with no one around, not iPads.
I guess the TSA agent didn't know that iPhones, iPads, and many other tablets and smartphones can be tracked and wiped remotely. There is a large risk to stealing them and little reward. I bet theft rates will decrease as word of these anti-theft features spreads.