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

[rambone]

The X-ray scanners help the TSA thieves locate your valuables, says one TSA master thief.


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

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.

 

[Sylvain]

The TSA also legally steals things from you when they confiscate any item they want for "safety reasons".

 

[rambone]

3 whole years in prison for $800,000 worth of theft, from a multitude of victims.

 

[mike8170]

It seems to me that the TSA gets its efficiency in theft naturally. From the thieves that get voted into Washington every election cycle.

 

[littletommy]

In the past, I've referred to TSA mouth breathers as burger flippers, and I apologize for those comments. This flock of trash could never hold an honest job in a fast food joint.

 

[mike8170]

It is pathetic what is going on. For example, here is an Ebay link to a Victorinox lot. The description states "Airport Confiscates." If the Gov is selling off confiscated items, what else is NOT being reported as confiscated and taken home by TSA employees. F-ing government sanctioned theft pisses me off to no end.

Victorinox Swiss Army Lot | eBay

 

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

Don't steal, the government hates competition.

 

[buckstopshere]

I think the TSA should abolished.

Having said that, I will give credit where it is due. I was late for a flight a couple weeks ago due to some massive traffic. I got to the ticket counter to check a bag with 50 minutes before the flight departs.

Anyway, I'm in such a rush that I left my iPad in on of the trays at security. The TSA agent opened it up, saw my calendar reminder with my flight number and information on it, radioed ahead and told the attendants to hang tight for a minute. The pilot calls my name and asks me to hit the call button as I was the winner of a brand new ipad2. I knew instantly I had left it.

So, TSA did the right thing there. They could've very easily kept it and didn't plus they went the extra mile to bring it to the plane.

Now, full disclosure, I do have a TSA issued ID for my job. I have to visit nuclear sites and power plants. Not sure that has anything to do with it or not but it does seem to get me through security faster.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Motive? What's this guy motive in stating this? While I am certainly no fan of the TSA, I'm going to give those that work for them a fair shake.

It is not uncommon for persons in positions of privilege to abuse their powers. I'm sure even right now, there's a police officer taking something that doesn't belong to him. I would bet that baggage handlers commit way more theft than TSA agents. I won't condemn all TSA agents nor anyone else as being a "certain type of person" simply due to their occupation.

For a guy who has already admitted to being a thief himself (and convicted), his word is worth very little. Seems to me he's the guy that got caught and used the "everybody's doing it" excuse.

 

[longbarrel]

It seems to me that the TSA gets its efficiency in theft naturally. From the thieves that get voted into Washington every election cycle.

Who started it? (TSA)

 

[poptab]

Motive? What's this guy motive in stating this? While I am certainly no fan of the TSA, I'm going to give those that work for them a fair shake.

It is not uncommon for persons in positions of privilege to abuse their powers. I'm sure even right now, there's a police officer taking something that doesn't belong to him. I would bet that baggage handlers commit way more theft than TSA agents. I won't condemn all TSA agents nor anyone else as being a "certain type of person" simply due to their occupation.

For a guy who has already admitted to being a thief himself (and convicted), his word is worth very little. Seems to me he's the guy that got caught and used the "everybody's doing it" excuse.

Umm their job description involves intimately violating our 4th amendment rights. So they get nothing from me except utter contempt.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Umm their job description involves intimately violating our 4th amendment rights. So they get nothing from me except utter contempt.

How do you figure? Explain please. Are you saying that you are subjected to an illegal search and seizure by the TSA?....mind you, after you have purchased a ticket and thus agreeing to a potential search. It's one thing if one is not given notice of a potential search, but quite another when it is known that it will occur, and still making the choice to undergo it. I'm sorry, but there typically no 4th violation committed by the TSA.
Now, if you hold the view that such power to conduct such searches exceeds the bounds if govt (as I do), your argument would have more merit. However, it's difficult to indicate a 4th Amendment violation.

 

[IndyDave1776]

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Where does it say that this does not apply if a person selects a certain mode of transportation or chooses to go to a location in which rights are routinely violated? There is no authority given to the .gov to do this in the first place, but that does not change the fact that the Fourth Amendment is reasonably specific in that it certainly does not accommodate the TSA nonsense of searching any and all for showing up at a public place.

 

[maxmayhem]

yeah...this

we need to go back to hanging people for rape and murder and putting them to work on chain gangs for other crimes...that will fix some things

3 whole years in prison for $800,000 worth of theft, from a multitude of victims.

 

[maxmayhem]

i will never ride an airplane or submit to this

 

[poptab]

How do you figure? Explain please. Are you saying that you are subjected to an illegal search and seizure by the TSA?....mind you, after you have purchased a ticket and thus agreeing to a potential search. It's one thing if one is not given notice of a potential search, but quite another when it is known that it will occur, and still making the choice to undergo it. I'm sorry, but there typically no 4th violation committed by the TSA.
Now, if you hold the view that such power to conduct such searches exceeds the bounds if govt (as I do), your argument would have more merit. However, it's difficult to indicate a 4th Amendment violation.

Huh? If groping 4 year olds isnt a violation of the 4th amendment then nothing is.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Huh? If groping 4 year olds isnt a violation of the 4th amendment then nothing is.

Isn't it amazing how it is OK for those on the .gov payroll to do things that anyone else would be sent to prison for doing?

 

[rambone]

Now, full disclosure, I do have a TSA issued ID for my job. I have to visit nuclear sites and power plants. Not sure that has anything to do with it or not but it does seem to get me through security faster.

Can you say more about this ID? Is there an example of one online somewhere?

How do you figure? Explain please. Are you saying that you are subjected to an illegal search and seizure by the TSA?....mind you, after you have purchased a ticket and thus agreeing to a potential search. It's one thing if one is not given notice of a potential search, but quite another when it is known that it will occur, and still making the choice to undergo it. I'm sorry, but there typically no 4th violation committed by the TSA.
Now, if you hold the view that such power to conduct such searches exceeds the bounds if govt (as I do), your argument would have more merit. However, it's difficult to indicate a 4th Amendment violation.

If you can justify unwarranted searches of travelers in airports, you can justify unwarranted searches anywhere in public. When you bought that Colts ticket, you agreed to let Federal agents pet your genitals. When you decided to go shopping at the mall, you knew the Feds would be there to check your bags. When you got onto the highway, you knew that there would be roadside checkpoints.

The TSA only exists to get you conditioned to accept it. The 4th amendment is dead and buried.

 

[CarmelHP]

The X-ray scanners help the TSA thieves locate your valuables, says one TSA master thief.


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

Next you'll tell me the sky is blue and fire is hot.

 

[jedi]

It is pathetic what is going on. For example, here is an Ebay link to a Victorinox lot. The description states "Airport Confiscates." If the Gov is selling off confiscated items, what else is NOT being reported as confiscated and taken home by TSA employees. F-ing government sanctioned theft pisses me off to no end.

Victorinox Swiss Army Lot | eBay

It appears that eBay seller has a lot more "confiscated knifes" for sale on his account as well. Loads and loads of knifes.