All iPads: TSA Agents Like to Steal iPads

[SomeDudeAsking]

It seems the TSA has a problem with sticky-fingered agents who like to swipe Apple products, particularly iPads. Case in point: An agent at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport is the latest to be charged with stealing travelers’ iPads. It’s but one example of iPad pilferage by some of our nation’s “security” officials.

TSA baggage screener Sean Henry reportedly was caught leaving the airport with two iPads after a joint TSA and Port Authority sting, according to ABC News. Officials used the iPad’s own GPS tracking mechanism to keep tabs on the tablet and pinpoint the thief.

Other instances of note: In September, a TSA agent in Florida was caught pilfering an iPad left at a security checkpoint. In July, a Continental Airlines employee caught a TSA worker trying to take an iPad by stashing it in his pants. Not smooth, bro. He was alleged to have sold around $50,000 of stolen gear on Craigslist. And a TSA screener at Dallas-Fort Worth International was arrested in January and found with seven Apple tablets in his possession. One for each day of the week, perhaps?

In the most brazen example, more ambitious thieves (believed to be airport employees, but not necessarily TSA employees) swiped two entire pallets of iPads at JFK Airport — 3,600 in all, worth $1.5 million.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/12/tsa-ipads/

Bunch of parasitic criminals......both the thieves and the TSA.

[paulbennett95]

Not only is the TSA stealing our rights and privacy, now they're stealing our stuff?
And people still think the government cares about us, lol.

[Brandyyy]

This was really old video, but shame that people do this :/

[SomeDudeAsking]

It makes me wonder that if the TSA is this bad on homesoil, the stuff that American government agencies get away with in other countries must be obscene.

[urkel]

.001% of cops are bad. Therefore, Cops are all bad.

This is sensationalistic writing meant to drive traffic. The fact that its still being linked only goes to show how catering to a specific type of reader pays off because some people just want to be angry.

[SomeDudeAsking]

Originally Posted by urkel

.001% of cops are bad. Therefore, Cops are all bad.

This is sensationalistic writing meant to drive traffic. The fact that its still being linked only goes to show how catering to a specific type of reader pays off because some people just want to be angry.

Like the TSA stealing and doing evil things is a rare occurence. [roll eyes]

[BarkingGhost]

Originally Posted by urkel

.001% of cops are bad. Therefore, Cops are all bad.

This is sensationalistic writing meant to drive traffic. The fact that its still being linked only goes to show how catering to a specific type of reader pays off because some people just want to be angry.

Where is this figure coming from? BTW, cops an internal police that police the POLICE. If it is such a small percentage then why have an Internal Affairs?

[ZZ Bottom]

I used to work as a TSA officer. I would have never considered stealing someone's belongings. However I did work with a couple of folks lacking ethics. My point is that its not fair to condemn them all.

[SomeDudeAsking]

Originally Posted by ZZ Bottom

I used to work as a TSA officer. I would have never considered stealing someone's belongings. However I did work with a couple of folks lacking ethics. My point is that its not fair to condemn them all.

That's like saying it is not fair to condemn the Nazi's because a few of them were good and saved some Jews.

[Carlanga]

Originally Posted by SomeDudeAsking

That's like saying it is not fair to condemn the Nazi's because a few of them were good and saved some Jews.

What? Either the official purpose of the TSA has changed or you don't know how to do comparisons.

[SomeDudeAsking]

Originally Posted by Carlanga

What? Either the official purpose of the TSA has changed or you don't know how to do comparisons.

What? You mean the TSA is not waging war on common sense and decency? I am shocked.

----------

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard OSX

How would the TSA be able to steal your electronics? Everytime I fly, I keep my eye on all of my electronics/wallet/anything else I put in a bin to get scanned. Again, I'm really having a hard time understanding how a TSA agent could successfully steal an iPad.

Read the articles I linked to. One of the ways they steal is by going through your checked luggage in the scanning rooms.

[old-wiz]

Originally Posted by SomeDudeAsking

What? You mean the TSA is not waging war on common sense and decency? I am shocked.

----------



Read the articles I linked to. One of the ways they steal is by going through your checked luggage in the scanning rooms.

It is definitely not a good idea to put anything of value in your checked luggage. carry on your electronics, jewelry, and medications.

[darngooddesign]

Originally Posted by SomeDudeAsking

...Read the articles I linked to. One of the ways they steal is by going through your checked luggage in the scanning rooms.

It's an iPad. How hard is it to keep it with you. If I left $900 in a checked bag I wouldn't count on it being there when I landed.

[DannySmurf]

Originally Posted by SomeDudeAsking

What? You mean the TSA is not waging war on common sense and decency? I am shocked.

----------



Read the articles I linked to. One of the ways they steal is by going through your checked luggage in the scanning rooms.

Okay, first, nobody should be checking valuables. You have the ability to take a carry-on bag for exactly that reason. Regardless of the risk of something being stolen, there's also the possibility that the airline is going to lose your luggage, and you may not get it back. I've had luggage lost by a US carrier twice... got it back once, once it disappeared forever. There was nothing valuable in my bag either time for exactly that reason. Putting expensive electronics in a checked bag is stupidity.

And second... grab some perspective. The TSA is nothing like the Nazis. You're just being sensationalist. Unless you know something the rest of us don't about people being entrained to gas chambers from airport security checkpoints.

[Carlanga]

Originally Posted by SomeDudeAsking

What? You mean the TSA is not waging war on common sense and decency? I am shocked.[COLOR="#808080"]
...

Are you 10? I sure hope so.

[oneMadRssn]

Originally Posted by barkomatic

Not true at all. Many people do have morals regardless, though apparently you don't. It may be a bit unfair to focus on TSA agents in particular, since there are people such as yourself that work in a variety of positions that feel they are entitled to steal from others.

I try to make a philosophical debate, and you accuse me of being a thief. Stay classy.

Originally Posted by thewitt

Excuse me?

No such thing as morals? I feel very sad for you.

You watch way too much TV.

These thieves are nothing more than thieves.

They are clearly not starving, living on the street, stealing bread to keep their children alive.

Where do morals come from? Are they utilitarian? Natural? Can you teach your pet to have them? Can you teach a person to have them, or are you just teaching them to act?

Most importantly, how far backed into a corner would you need to be in order to ignore your morals, or to act against them?

We don't know if these specific TSA agents were poor, or what their living situation was like. We do know the salary of one though, and we do know what the general public thinks of them. On this forum, people have called them scum, rapists, evil, and other terrible things. I figure, they hear that all over the place. If they're already those things, how much worse is it to add thief to the list?

Have you ever seen someone proudly proclaim in public that they are a TSA agent? No, it's because we already hate them.

And I know that very well paid people sometimes steal too, it always comes down to a cost/benefit factoring in potential reward, odds of being caught, and potential punishment. I believe how society will judge them or label them, win or lose, fits into that equation. Maybe that is the moral component?

[ZZ Bottom]

Originally Posted by SomeDudeAsking

That's like saying it is not fair to condemn the Nazi's because a few of them were good and saved some Jews.

Wow you are comparing people getting paid to screen airline passengers to Nazis? Very clueless and pathetic argument.

If TSA flat out stopped screening at all, would you fly? No because it would pose an actual danger on a regular basis.

Therefore the government will continue to fund TSA. And since I'm sure we all agree that we don't want to spend any more than is necessary, we will continue to employ a lower quality of people who exhibit desperate and selfish behavior.

[thewitt]

Originally Posted by oneMadRssn

To me this just means TSA agents (or any similar security personel) aren't paid enough. These people are supposed to be professionals in a career. What kind of professional would be willing to risk their career for a few thousand bucks on the black market? A highly underpaid one, for whom that few thousand bucks is a big deal.

It just means that unethical people take every sort of job and the interview process is not good enough to filter them out.

Just read threads in this forum where someone orders and pays for one phone, but two get shipped. How many people here with no morals say to keep the second phone?

It's a problem with the degradation of morals in society in the US that will not easily be overcome, and it has nothing to do with how much a person is being paid.

[oneMadRssn]

There's no such thing as morals, regardless of what everyone is taught in Sunday school. Everyone does what they have to in order to get by. Most of us will do the "right" thing when there's nothing to gain from doing the "wrong" thing; plus doing the "right" thing feels good. But if you give a guy a terrible job, no respect, unlivable wages, and practically nothing to lose, you can't act surprised when he takes some bread home with him.

Rules of ethics only work when people have something to lose. We talk about TSA agents like they are scum, worst human beings. What do they have to lose?

Originally Posted by thewitt

It just means that unethical people take every sort of job and the interview process is not good enough to filter them out.

Just read threads in this forum where someone orders and pays for one phone, but two get shipped. How many people here with no morals say to keep the second phone?

It's a problem with the degradation of morals in society in the US that will not easily be overcome, and it has nothing to do with how much a person is being paid.

[midwestfisherma]

The TSA should be BANNED!

[SomeDudeAsking]

Convicted TSA Officer Reveals Secrets of Thefts at Airports

A convicted TSA security officer says he was part of a "culture" of indifference that allowed corrupt employees to prey on passengers' luggage and personal belongings with impunity, thanks to lax oversight and tip-offs from TSA colleagues.

"It was very commonplace, very," said Pythias Brown, a former TSA officer at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey who admits he stole more than $800,000 worth of items from luggage and security checkpoints over a four-year period.

"It was very convenient to steal," he said.

Speaking publicly for the first time after being released from prison, Brown told ABC News his four-year-long crime spree came to an end only because he tried to sell a camera he stole from the luggage of a CNN producer on E-bay but forgot to remove all of the news networks' identifying stickers.

"It became so easy, I got complacent," Brown said.

Brown is one of almost 400 TSA officers who have been fired for stealing from passengers in the past decade. According to the TSA, 381 TSA officers have been fired for theft between 2003 and 2012, including 11 so far in this year.

..........

"It was so easy," said Brown, "I walked right out of the checkpoint with a Nintendo Wii in my hand. Nobody said a word."

He said he soon learned how to read the X-ray scans to find the most valuable items to steal.

"I could tell whether it was cameras or laptops or portable cameras or whatever kind of electronic was in the bag," Brown said.

At the time of his arrest, Brown was offering for sale some 80 cameras, video games and computers on his personal eBay page.

"It was like being on drugs, it was," he told ABC News. "I was like, 'What am I doing?' but the next day I was right back at it."

Brown described one instance when he got a tip off about complaints from passengers about thefts.

"One gentleman that used to work in the office one day came to me and said, 'They were talking about you in the office. Be careful.' I said, 'Okay.'"

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/convic...ry?id=17339513

It's not wages, it's just greedy jackasses and it goes all the way to the top. They would be a perfect fit with Halliburton in Iraq pillaging.

[paulbennett95]

Originally Posted by oneMadRssn

There's no such thing as morals, regardless of what everyone is taught in Sunday school. Everyone does what they have to in order to get by. Most of us will do the "right" thing when there's nothing to gain from doing the "wrong" thing; plus doing the "right" thing feels good. But if you give a guy a terrible job, no respect, unlivable wages, and practically nothing to lose, you can't act surprised when he takes some bread home with him.

Rules of ethics only work when people have something to lose. We talk about TSA agents like they are scum, worst human beings. What do they have to lose?

Oh god not another one of these people...
Just because someone can or does ignore a law, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Same applies with morals.

[barkomatic]

Originally Posted by oneMadRssn

There's no such thing as morals, regardless of what everyone is taught in Sunday school. Everyone does what they have to in order to get by. Most of us will do the "right" thing when there's nothing to gain from doing the "wrong" thing; plus doing the "right" thing feels good. But if you give a guy a terrible job, no respect, unlivable wages, and practically nothing to lose, you can't act surprised when he takes some bread home with him.

Rules of ethics only work when people have something to lose. We talk about TSA agents like they are scum, worst human beings. What do they have to lose?

Not true at all. Many people do have morals regardless, though apparently you don't. It may be a bit unfair to focus on TSA agents in particular, since there are people such as yourself that work in a variety of positions that feel they are entitled to steal from others.

[thewitt]

Originally Posted by oneMadRssn

There's no such thing as morals, regardless of what everyone is taught in Sunday school. Everyone does what they have to in order to get by. Most of us will do the "right" thing when there's nothing to gain from doing the "wrong" thing; plus doing the "right" thing feels good. But if you give a guy a terrible job, no respect, unlivable wages, and practically nothing to lose, you can't act surprised when he takes some bread home with him.

Rules of ethics only work when people have something to lose. We talk about TSA agents like they are scum, worst human beings. What do they have to lose?

Excuse me?

No such thing as morals? I feel very sad for you.

You watch way too much TV.

These thieves are nothing more than thieves.

They are clearly not starving, living on the street, stealing bread to keep their children alive.

[SnowLeopard OSX]

How would the TSA be able to steal your electronics? Everytime I fly, I keep my eye on all of my electronics/wallet/anything else I put in a bin to get scanned. Again, I'm really having a hard time understanding how a TSA agent could successfully steal an iPad.