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TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers

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Re: TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers

#91

Post by stonogo »

dataflow wrote: post #87
stonogo wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.travelstatsman.com/03082020/the-great-tsa-robber... https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&ge... https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/recent-tsa-arrest-a... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/beware-your-gadgets-at-risk-of-...

None of those is the case of passengers' carry-ons being robbed as they go through security , AFAICT. They're stuff like lost-and-found wallets being stolen. And what you're posting is from several years ago (mostly from a decade ago). If anything you're making it clear the type of incident we were talking about doesn't seem to be common nowadays.

I posted examples from several years ago to overcome any possible recency bias. I also posted a Google Trends link with similar intent. The TSA deliberately does not break down where in the airport a given worker was caught stealing; given that they've fired an average of 25 officers per year for the past twenty years the idea that none of them were raiding carryons is ridiculous.

It is going to be nearly impossible to convince you, I can tell. The next phase is "well just because it happens often doesn't mean it's common" and other goal-post-moving exercises. I don't really understand why you bothered asking questions if you believed you already had the answers. I'm also not sure why it's so important to you that the TSA be regarded as trustworthy despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Good luck with your future endeavors; I'm done playing.

Re: TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers

#92

Post by dataflow »

stonogo wrote: post #91
dataflow wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of those is the case of passengers' carry-ons being robbed as they go through security , AFAICT. They're stuff like lost-and-found wallets being stolen. And what you're posting is from several years ago (mostly from a decade ago). If anything you're making it clear the type of incident we were talking about doesn't seem to be common nowadays.

I posted examples from several years ago to overcome any possible recency bias. I also posted a Google Trends link with similar intent. The TSA deliberately does not break down where in the airport a given worker was caught stealing; given that they've fired an average of 25 officers per year for the past twenty years the idea that none of them were raiding carryons is ridiculous. It is going to be nearly impossible…

> The next phase is "well just because it happens often doesn't mean it's common" and other goal-post-moving exercises. I don't really understand why you bothered asking questions if you believed you already had the answers. I'm also not sure why it's so important to you that the TSA be regarded as trustworthy despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Good luck with your future endeavors; I'm done playing.

"Is this common?" was the very first comment I posted [1] in this entire thread, which started this whole discussion. The data you (and many others) posted in direct response showed that ~0.5% of TSA agents were fired for doing something else bad a decade ago... which neither exhibits the "is" part of my question, nor the "this" part, nor the "common" part. Going back to my original question here is the exact opposite of me moving my goalposts; it's me bolting them to the ground at their original locations so that others don't move them.

(And to be clear, I don't have intentions that the TSA be regarded any particular way. But I don't have the energy to continue.)

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37517642

Re: TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers

#93

Post by flerovium »

fortran77 wrote: post #35

I used to maintain a blog of arrests of TSA officers and baggage handlers. At its peak, there were on average 2 arrests/week for stealing from passengers. It’s actually gotten better (less theft) over the past few years. I no longer keep the blog, but it’s down to about 1 a month. I think the TSA has made us less safe. If there are so many people desperate for money, what’s stopping them from accepting a payment to g…

Where is this—the record of the old ones?

Re: TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers

#94

Post by [deleted] »

alphabettsy wrote: post #89
olalonde wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems pretty straightforward. The TSA doesn't focus on competence when hiring, resulting in a less competent workforce. They have an entire department dedicated to prioritizing characteristics unrelated to competence, such as skin color, sex, etc.: https://www.tsa.gov/civil-rights-diversity-and-inclusion . This is not the case of most countries and in fact, it's illegal in many places to do so.

Tbh, I knew what he likely meant. Just prefer people say what they mean. The link you’ve shared doesn’t support the assertion you’ve made.

[deleted]

Re: TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers

#95

Post by olalonde »

alphabettsy wrote: post #89
olalonde wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems pretty straightforward. The TSA doesn't focus on competence when hiring, resulting in a less competent workforce. They have an entire department dedicated to prioritizing characteristics unrelated to competence, such as skin color, sex, etc.: https://www.tsa.gov/civil-rights-diversity-and-inclusion . This is not the case of most countries and in fact, it's illegal in many places to do so.

Tbh, I knew what he likely meant. Just prefer people say what they mean. The link you’ve shared doesn’t support the assertion you’ve made.

It does to me. The goal of achieving a workforce that is phenotypically representative of larger society (a goal of that department) is incompatible with the one of achieving a competent workforce. If the goals were compatible, there would be no need for such a department as it would just occur naturally through hiring the most competent workforce. The department exists because hiring the most competent workforce does not result in a workforce that is phenotypically representative of larger society.

Re: TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers

#96

Post by Kerb_ »

Trencin wrote: post #71
tonymet wrote: post #63

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 securit…

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

TSA are not what I would consider Airport Professionals

Re: TSA officers accused of stealing from passengers

#97

Post by alphabettsy »

olalonde wrote: post #95
alphabettsy wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tbh, I knew what he likely meant. Just prefer people say what they mean. The link you’ve shared doesn’t support the assertion you’ve made.

It does to me. The goal of achieving a workforce that is phenotypically representative of larger society (a goal of that department) is incompatible with the one of achieving a competent workforce. If the goals were compatible, there would be no need for such a department as it would just occur naturally through hiring the most competent workforce. The department exists because hiring the most competent workforce doe…

That goal, as you’ve stated, is nowhere on the website. Thanks for clarifying your position though.
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