6 ms·

In other news, water is wet.

by huntertwo 3y ago

dataflow 3y ago
Really? Is this common?
- JoshTriplett 3y ago
  It's been standard guidance for travelers for a long time to not put cash in your checked luggage because it'll get stolen.
  - petra303 3y ago
    That’s carry on luggage, not checked luggage.
  - dataflow 3y ago
    Er, these are wallets they're stealing from, not checked luggage?
  - cute_boi 3y ago
    Probably, got my $400 stolen in Qatar TSA. No idea, what I can do there.
  - corbezzoli 3y ago
    I think theft was more common before, but thankfully less so lately. Nothing ever went missing from my checked bags (so far), and I don’t travel in first world countries.
- miah_ 3y ago
  Recently there was a ring of United workers busted stealing pot from travelers bags in SF. https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/sfo-armed-robbery-uncovered-drug-smuggling-ring-18161928.php https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/sfo-armed-robbery-un...
  - dataflow 3y ago
    That's not TSA or carry-on luggage...
- hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
  The unsurprising part to me is not that it's "common", but with over 50k TSA agents, I'd be shocked if some small percentage of them weren't thieves. If only one in a thousand is a thief, that's still 50 thieves.
  - dataflow 3y ago
    Sure, but that's not a "water is wet" thing. It's not like only 1 in 1000 water molecules are wet.
    - hrokr 3y ago
      If you have 1 bad officer but 999 who go along with it, you have 1000 bad officers. And remember, this is just one case. "Instead of making headlines with reform, though, the TSA has become better-known for stealing money from travelers. In September, news reports called out the case of TSA working with other agencies to seize $27,600 from a Texas man, apparently because he was traveling to Oregon where marijuana is legal in conflict with federal law; he was never charged with a crime. Last year, the Institute for Justice reported that TSA and its sister agencies at Homeland Security "seized over $2 billion in currency at airports" between 2000 and 2016." https://reason.com/2021/11/19/after-20-years-of-failure-kill-the-tsa/ https://reason.com/2021/11/19/after-20-years-of-failure-kill...
      - dataflow 3y ago
        I don't get why every comment here is answering a different question than the one being asked. The question is "is it common for TSA agents to covertly steal from carry-on luggage", not "is the TSA bad" or "do TSA follow due process" or "is it risky to carry cash in checked luggage when traveling" or "is law enforcement stealing from people" or what have you.
    - hedora 3y ago
      Due to the way surface tension works, many fewer than 1 in 1000 water molecules are wet. There’s a kids science experiment where you coat your hand in the right powder, dip it in water, and it comes out dry. I can’t find a link to it though.
- stonogo 3y ago
  Yes.
  - dataflow 3y ago
    Any links or anything? I don't recall hearing this any time in recent memory.
    - stonogo 3y ago
      https://www.travelstatsman.com/03082020/the-great-tsa-robbery/ https://www.travelstatsman.com/03082020/the-great-tsa-robber... https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=tsa%20theft&hl=en-US https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&ge... https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/recent-tsa-arrest-at-lax-continues-theft-trend/1901373/ https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/recent-tsa-arrest-a... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/beware-your-gadgets-at-risk-of-theft-from-tsa/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/beware-your-gadgets-at-risk-of-...
      - dataflow 3y ago
        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.
        stonogo 3y ago
        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.

In other news, water is wet.

dataflow 3y ago

Really? Is this common?

JoshTriplett 3y ago
It's been standard guidance for travelers for a long time to not put cash in your checked luggage because it'll get stolen.
- petra303 3y ago
  That’s carry on luggage, not checked luggage.
- dataflow 3y ago
  Er, these are wallets they're stealing from, not checked luggage?
- cute_boi 3y ago
  Probably, got my $400 stolen in Qatar TSA. No idea, what I can do there.
- corbezzoli 3y ago
  I think theft was more common before, but thankfully less so lately. Nothing ever went missing from my checked bags (so far), and I don’t travel in first world countries.
miah_ 3y ago
Recently there was a ring of United workers busted stealing pot from travelers bags in SF. https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/sfo-armed-robbery-uncovered-drug-smuggling-ring-18161928.php https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/sfo-armed-robbery-un...
- dataflow 3y ago
  That's not TSA or carry-on luggage...
hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
The unsurprising part to me is not that it's "common", but with over 50k TSA agents, I'd be shocked if some small percentage of them weren't thieves. If only one in a thousand is a thief, that's still 50 thieves.
- dataflow 3y ago
  Sure, but that's not a "water is wet" thing. It's not like only 1 in 1000 water molecules are wet.
  - hrokr 3y ago
    If you have 1 bad officer but 999 who go along with it, you have 1000 bad officers. And remember, this is just one case. "Instead of making headlines with reform, though, the TSA has become better-known for stealing money from travelers. In September, news reports called out the case of TSA working with other agencies to seize $27,600 from a Texas man, apparently because he was traveling to Oregon where marijuana is legal in conflict with federal law; he was never charged with a crime. Last year, the Institute for Justice reported that TSA and its sister agencies at Homeland Security "seized over $2 billion in currency at airports" between 2000 and 2016." https://reason.com/2021/11/19/after-20-years-of-failure-kill-the-tsa/ https://reason.com/2021/11/19/after-20-years-of-failure-kill...
    - dataflow 3y ago
      I don't get why every comment here is answering a different question than the one being asked. The question is "is it common for TSA agents to covertly steal from carry-on luggage", not "is the TSA bad" or "do TSA follow due process" or "is it risky to carry cash in checked luggage when traveling" or "is law enforcement stealing from people" or what have you.
  - hedora 3y ago
    Due to the way surface tension works, many fewer than 1 in 1000 water molecules are wet. There’s a kids science experiment where you coat your hand in the right powder, dip it in water, and it comes out dry. I can’t find a link to it though.
stonogo 3y ago
Yes.
- dataflow 3y ago
  Any links or anything? I don't recall hearing this any time in recent memory.
  - stonogo 3y ago
    https://www.travelstatsman.com/03082020/the-great-tsa-robbery/ https://www.travelstatsman.com/03082020/the-great-tsa-robber... https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=tsa%20theft&hl=en-US https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&ge... https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/recent-tsa-arrest-at-lax-continues-theft-trend/1901373/ https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/recent-tsa-arrest-a... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/beware-your-gadgets-at-risk-of-theft-from-tsa/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/beware-your-gadgets-at-risk-of-...
    - dataflow 3y ago
      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.
      - stonogo 3y ago
        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.