TSA Airport Screener steals over $200,000 worth of gadgets

[socialize_me]

http://gizmodo.com/5062913/tsa-airp...er-200000-in-gadgets-almost-gets-away-with-it

TSA Airport Screener Steals Over $200,000 in Gadgets, Almost Gets Away With It

Transportation Security Administration baggage screener Pythias Brown is the reason you hate flying with expensive gear in your bag, especially if you ever flew out of Newark airport. Over the last few years, he stole at least $200,000 worth of electronics. Not just a camcorder here, a laptop there, or an Xbox 360 or two, either. No, this guy had balls. Among his biggest hauls—literally—was an HBO employee's $47,900 camera. And the TSA was totally clueless about it. He was finally caught after CNN found a camera he had stolen from them up for sale on eBay.

When the USPS and local police tracked him down and raided his place, they found they found 66 cameras, 31 laptops, jewelry, camera lenses, GPS devices and more. So yeah, how does a TSA screener systematically walk out of the airport with more gadgets than Best Buy—hell, with some gear you can't even buy there—without a single agent ever noticing? I guess if you ever check anything actually valuable, you might want avoid Newark (not that there aren't a million more reasons to avoid Newark).

 

[speciallyblend]

.....

 

[qh4dotcom]

I searched the CNN site and couldn't find an article about Pythias Brown stealing their stuff...too bad....it could have been a great story.

 

[torchbearer]

God Bless the TSA.
Thousands of government employees standing around daily.

 

[Copperhed51]

As a recently laid off airline pilot, I can tell you that TSA agents are generally fairly uneducated, over-paid, lazy people who are on a huge power trip. With my pilot identification, pilot uniform, and all of my books and manuals, I had to have the extra bag check when going through security because of my nail clipper kit. It had a little nail file/tiny knife thing in it and they weren't ok with that. They told me I could have that with me on the airplane. I asked if they were aware that there is an axe right behind my seat in the airplane and they didn't seem to care. The funny thing about it is this was my last flight of a 5-day trip where I had just flown around 20 different flights and had gone through security multiple times. It's such a joke.

 

[me3]

The irony here, quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

If they can steal stuff they can plant stuff. Stuff like bombs.

Who is watching these folks?

 

[Copperhed51]

Who is watching these folks?

Nobody really. I believe most of them go through security at the start of their shift but many have access to areas that don't require them to go through security (I've been ushered through these areas every once in a while by TSA agents). If it makes you feel any better, my airline found a homeless man sleeping in one of our airplanes once. Apparently he just walked onto the airport and onto the airplane. It was a rainy night and he was just looking for a warm place to sleep. Comforting, eh?

 

[torchbearer]

The irony here, quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

If they can steal stuff they can plant stuff. Stuff like bombs.

Who is watching these folks?

Oh- Good idea. We need an agency to over-sight the agency.
The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the ever expanding bureaucracy.

 

[me3]

Oh- Good idea. We need an agency to over-sight the agency.
The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the ever expanding bureaucracy.

That's how you bring Leviathan down.

 

[socialize_me]

As a recently laid off airline pilot, I can tell you that TSA agents are generally fairly uneducated, over-paid, lazy people who are on a huge power trip. With my pilot identification, pilot uniform, and all of my books and manuals, I had to have the extra bag check when going through security because of my nail clipper kit. It had a little nail file/tiny knife thing in it and they weren't ok with that. They told me I could have that with me on the airplane. I asked if they were aware that there is an axe right behind my seat in the airplane and they didn't seem to care. The funny thing about it is this was my last flight of a 5-day trip where I had just flown around 20 different flights and had gone through security multiple times. It's such a joke.

LOL a nail clipper kept the pilot off the plane. Do they not realize you don't need to storm the cabin with your weapons considering you, yourself, are in control of the plane from the get-go?? LOL...gotta love some logic throwing a monkey wrench into government agency planning...

 

[Crowish]

As a recently laid off airline pilot, I can tell you that TSA agents are generally fairly uneducated, over-paid, lazy people who are on a huge power trip. With my pilot identification, pilot uniform, and all of my books and manuals, I had to have the extra bag check when going through security because of my nail clipper kit. It had a little nail file/tiny knife thing in it and they weren't ok with that. They told me I could have that with me on the airplane. I asked if they were aware that there is an axe right behind my seat in the airplane and they didn't seem to care. The funny thing about it is this was my last flight of a 5-day trip where I had just flown around 20 different flights and had gone through security multiple times. It's such a joke.

That's one of the most sad-hilarious things I've read in a very long time.

 

[freelance]

That's one of the most sad-hilarious things I've read in a very long time.

As a former airline employee, I can tell you that this kind of thing has been going on forever. They never have seen the forest for the trees.

SSDD! The airlines are one collective pathological mess of an industry, and there's nothing new there either.

 

[psalm82x3]

I flew out of Fresno Yosemite a few weeks back. In front of me in line, a family on vacation was going through security and a boy, about 12, had his walking stick that he had been whittling all week confiscated. After the family went through security the poor kid sat down crying while his parents had to explain what happened.

Stupid.

Orwellian. Heaven help us.