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Report: TSA employee misconduct up 26% in 3 years

170 points by tocomment 13y ago

jawerty 13y ago
It would be interesting seeing an experiment on how an increase in the media can affect the overall morale of a certain profession. I highly doubt this increase in misconduct has nothing to do with their negative attention over the past decade.
coin 13y ago
> Their job is to keep air travelers safe in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks Not true, their job is to make people feel safer in the wake of September 11, 2011 attacks
- blackaspen 13y ago
  Emphasis on the "FEEL" is needed here.
  - DamnYuppie 13y ago
    Agreed. Its also a works program for the incompetent.
thex86 13y ago
Like Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility," the TSA employees are exactly in that position -- they have the a great deal of power at their disposal and they are not trained to control it. One can also argue that they are just doing their job, but it's probably not as simple as that. On multiple occasions when I had to deal with them (I forgot to take out a water bottle of my bag), I have found them to be unnecessarily rude. It almost seemed as if the TSA agent was enjoying it thoroughly. And I know this first hand, having worked in a customer service position for many years, I can probably smell it.
- Terretta 13y ago
  Aside from the standard "customer service" jadedness, there's a class stratification at play: people who have to take a TSA screener job to pay the bills, versus people with enough income to fly. When you put an underclass in control of the overclass, don't be surprised when they try to wield whatever power they can, regardless of how disproportionate. It would be an interesting experiment to staff a TSA gate with frequent fliers selected "jury pool" style (say, one day of service for every 100k miles flown annually), and see if both passenger and agent job ratings are any different.
  - mrtonykittens 13y ago
    I would be great at a job I knew I only had to perform for one day (or even one week). I also wouldn't be terribly concerned with upholding rules and laws, and just do it how I would want it to be done. Plus it would be fun and different, almost like a game. I can't believe we have juries.
- dmead 13y ago
  you know, guards at Auschwitz were just doing their jobs.
- aestra 13y ago
  I didn't take out my water bottle from my bag once, because I wasn't aware I was going to have to go through security a second time when arriving in the US from an international flight. It had one sip of water in it. I told them I would just drink the sip of water, unacceptable. The TSA employee told me that if I dumped it or drank it, that was fine, but I'd have to get in back of the line again. Why? I don't know. He sat there holding my water bottle saying "I'll only give it to you if you'll get in back of the line." I finally said fine, keep it. I still don't understand why I could drink it and get in back of the line, but I couldn't drink it and stay in front of the line. It seemed to me like he was just power tripping.
tsax 13y ago
Blame unionization. Why government employees are allowed to unionize will forever remain a mystery, for non-cynical reasons that is.
- grimtrigger 13y ago
  In some industries, governments are monopolies or near-monopolies. Take education. In order to even the negotiation, labor is given a monopoly as well. Not saying that it does more good than harm, just stating the reason.
  - ChrisBland 13y ago
    Not to start a debate on public sector unionization here but the negotiations are not 'even' in public unions - the union holds all the power. In a private enterprise the two sides are equal, if labor demands too much the business and shut its door and remove their capitol from the marketplace, alternatively if the business demands too much the union can take their labor out of the market (a strike) and the business will suffer. So they have some incentive to work together for a solution. In public sector, there is no one representing the capital side of the equation. You can't just shut down or relocate the TSA because of union demands like you can close a business. We still have to fly, we still have to have police men on the streets and firemen responding to calls. The gvt can continue to spend recklessly and borrow to cover deficits. (See Detroit) while private sector business will eventually run out of money and both capital and labor will be reduced to 0. The union can spend a ton of money to get the people elected who will promise them the work-rules and benefits they want because the politician won't be around when the bills finally come due. Imagine if everyone in your company gave a few % of their salary to influence the hiring of your next CFO, or VP of HR and would only back candidates that would promise to increase pay. That is the power that the public sector unions have which leads to an imbalance in negotiations.
- hga 13y ago
  What's so difficult to understand? Governments "negotiate" with public sector unions and the taxpayers foot the bill. Public sector unions and union members then support the party of government (currently more the Democrats than Republicans, but that's subject to change) with money and legwork. It's a great game until the government runs out of money; see Detroit for the current stark object lesson in that.
beedogs 13y ago
It's amazing the kind of shit people put up with in the US. I'll remember to stare them in the face the next time a TSA agent touches my genitalia as a precursor to being allowed to board an aircraft.
- tylermac1 13y ago
  I've flown quite a few times in the last few months and have never had a TSA agent overstep their boundaries when doing a pat-down. I've had nothing but pleasant experiences going through security.
  - JamesArgo 13y ago
    >I've had nothing but pleasant experiences going through security. Surely "pleasant" is too strong an adjective.
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      Maybe he enjoys being manhandled. Some people appreciate physical contact anywhere they can get it.
      - tylermac1 13y ago
        I've never been "manhandled" by the TSA.
        jlgreco 13y ago
        Well that certainly sheds some light on your "nothing but pleasant experiences", doesn't it? If you've never had a pat down, then it should not be surprising that they have never overstepped any boundaries during a pat down...
        tylermac1 13y ago
        I have had pat-downs. Where did you get that I've never had a pat down? Pat down != "manhandling"
znowi 13y ago
Do they conduct body cavity search yet? I think Americans can very well adapt to it.
gbin 13y ago
What do you think they are doing with the confiscated $100 perfume bottle you bought at the duty free ?
Zigurd 13y ago
I had a large check from a client lifted from my bag at a TSA checkpoint at JFK. New York area airports have also been in the news for theft rings operating in the checked baggage areas. They need to streamline the passenger security checks so that you can keep your bag under observation and reduce the time the TSA has access to it, and reduce the TSA workforce so they can implement higher standards.
gnu8 13y ago
Simply arresting all of the TSA employees would go a long way toward making air travel safer. Why aren't TSA employees required to register as sex offenders?
elmuchoprez 13y ago
I'd be curious how the misconduct numbers compare to other occupations granted special access, such as police. That would help me understand if the problem is specifically with the TSA or if the real issue is that granting anyone such deep and unchecked access leads to misconduct.
rdouble 13y ago
Any time I check a bag, something is stolen from it. I guess I'm supposed to be thankful the TSA has the consideration to leave one of those little "TSA went through your bag" memos with a disconnected phone number to call to report the missing items.
doktrin 13y ago
Anecdotal gripe : the amount of self-important power tripping and vicious snickering among TSA agents has been getting worse as of late. I feel as if I can't walk through a security line without overhearing one of their staff berating some other traveler for offenses as minor as expressing a wish to walk through the X-Ray instead of the 3-d scanner, or for not taking their liquids out of a bag (a rule which is arbitrarily enforced at best). I typically sympathize with positions and roles who are entrusted with security, and where success may be measured by a lone failure rather than otherwise sustained competency (much like a sysadmin). However, given what I perceive to be a pattern of escalating negative experiences this report does not surprise me in the slightest.
- JPKab 13y ago
  The TSA's hiring process is guaranteed (at least from my wife's personal experience with it here in DC) to hire shit-bags. My wife, after being a stay-at-home mom for years, wanted to get a job while going to college part-time. She applied and was eventually offered a job by the TSA at DCA airport. Upon looking at the hours, it was completely, utterly unworkable. Rather than a 40 hour a week job, they offered her 20 hours a week, which is reasonable, but get this: the 20 hour a week job had a schedule that completely changed week to week. This means that a person can't have ANY, and I mean ANY other responsibilities/jobs/schoolwork while working as an entry level TSA employee. She was told this was the standard in hiring new TSA workers. No wonder the lines are always staffed by people who, predominantly (with a few memorable exceptions), have a shitty work ethic, bad attitude towards customers, and poor problem solving skills. In other words, the people who can't get/hold a job anywhere else end up at TSA.
  - rdouble 13y ago
    Not to defend the TSA, but most part time hourly jobs have variable schedules like that. I've even worked high paying sysadmin jobs that were like that.
  - sueders101 13y ago
    What you're describing is how most young people(early to mid twenties) I know work. The best you can hope for is to set your availability while applying or during the hiring process so you at least have a few days of the week where you can consistently work on other things. This lessens your chance of getting hired and typically reduces the number of hours you work even on the days you're available.
lnanek2 13y ago
The actual report is here: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-624 http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-624 Apparently they did hire 3,200 more people as well. Although it does look like the percent increase in misconduct is greater than the percent increase in employees, new employees are often more trouble at the start and hiring quickly often forces you to lower your standards. I actually left a laptop in a stacked security tray a while back and the TSA called me asking about returning it the next day and kept it at their offices for me for the month it took me to get back from Asia for it. So there's definitely some good people manning the line as well. I didn't expect to get back something I made the mistake of forgetting.
jmduke 13y ago
Note that this is overall misconduct, not misconduct per employee. What has happened to the TSA's budget (the majority of which is spent on staffing) over the past three years?
socialist_coder 13y ago
The TSA stole a pair of $600 headphones out of my checked luggage. Fuck those guys. I learned my lesson though, never check expensive things.
- IvyMike 13y ago
  Your checked luggage is handled by a lot of non-TSA employees, too.
  - hga 13y ago
    But it can't be seriously locked anymore, or at least the TSA will cut your lock if it's not one of the ones they have a master key for: http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/baggage-locks http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/baggage-locks There can't be very many master keys, and the payoff is so great for getting copies....
    - chiph 13y ago
      Take a gun with you. Seriously. [1] If you check a firearm (whether a "real" gun like a 9mm or a flare pistol), you have to check your bags. The interesting point is that once you do this, you are required to use a lock the TSA does not have a key for. There is also an increased standard of accountability & custody, as your bag will only be moved by a supervisor. [1] http://deviating.net/firearms/packing/ http://deviating.net/firearms/packing/
      - gknoy 13y ago
        I realize this is a duplicate of what someone else posted above [1], but: Be very careful that it is legal to carry/transport/own/etc that firearm at your destination! For example, New York. Don't bring one there. (I appreciate the tips from other HNers in that regard, I had no idea.) I'm not sure exactly what it is that is illegal in NY, in fact -- is it specifically airport related, or is it general ownership/carry/transport? 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6135445 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6135445
rayiner 13y ago
I'm pro welfare, and jobs programs for poor people and old people, but could we just pay them to sit at home instead?
mcculley 13y ago
I've been explaining the declining TSA situation in terms of the broken windows theory. Once an organization hits a tipping point where it is universally despised and its primary purpose annoys people, good people will leave and only undesirables will apply. This creates a feedback loop. It will take fundamental changes to reverse this.
- astrodust 13y ago
  Like shutting it down completely.
- arkades 13y ago
  Respectfully, I disagree. The socioeconomic status of the sorts of people that tend to despise the TSA, and the SES of the sorts of people that tend to be front-line TSA agents are very, very different. Those self-same TSA agents rarely fly (and thus bear no inconvenience), and are unlikely to have had the benefit of the sort of education that leads one to (a) despise incursions against civil liberties and (b) open opportunities for employment above that of a TSA agent.
  - mcculley 13y ago
    I agree that there is not a good overlap between people employed by the TSA and people subjected to the policies of the TSA. I'm less convinced that there is a huge socioeconomic gulf between those groups. The cost of airfare relative to overall cost of living has substantially declined in my lifetime. I would agree with your assertion if the passengers of airlines were like they were 20 years ago. But my contemporary experiences suggest that anyone who has a salary of a TSA employee can afford to fly somewhere. I fly out of Orlando, Florida and I don't see a huge difference between the clientele of Southwest and the clientele of Walmart.
jmharvey 13y ago
You can prevent the TSA from rifling through your checked baggage outside of your presence (and helping themselves to whatever they want) by flying with a gun: http://lifehacker.com/5448014/pack-a-gun-to-protect-valuables-from-airline-theft-or-loss http://lifehacker.com/5448014/pack-a-gun-to-protect-valuable... Probably just about the only instance where having a gun can actually thwart a corrupt government official.
- rdl 13y ago
  I usually cheat and just carry a stripped lower receiver if I'm not going to be carrying at the destination. I avoid going to NYC to the extent possible, too, though. The TSA people sometimes lol. The ones who handle guns also seem to be the best ones at the airport, and especially at Seattle, I like talking to them (someday when I get my manufacturer FFL I hope to show off some hot title II stuff there) Tempted to start carrying an 80% lower, which is tech I ally not a firearm, to be even safer. Should still be able to get firearm service at the tsa for it.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    This gives me an idea: There might be a market for cheap-as-hell injection molded lower receivers, not really good for any sort of shooting at all, to be sold to travelers so that they can be "technically" carrying a gun. It would be considered disposable so they could just crack it in two and throw it away at their destination (or perhaps have the shops that sell them also buy them back). I figure injection molded plastic would be sufficient, as plastic lowers have already been demonstrated. It would only work to and from certain states of course. There are probably problems with selling and buying them back in airports, so disposal in some states may be a problem. If you are flying Kansas<->Vermont or similar it could probably be made to work though.
    - lightbritefight 13y ago
      If I'm not mistaken, you can use a flare gun and get the same kind of service. This is a fine, nominally non lethal option if you still want the same assurance as a gun, but don't care for the whole lethal weapon aspect of it.
aclimatt 13y ago
Just to clear up a misconception I'm seeing, the TSA does not use X-rays anymore, except maybe at very small airports (although I haven't seen one in years). The backscatter machines were replaced with millimeter wave scanners, which are far safer and less intrusive than x-rays. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimeter_wave_scanner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimeter_wave_scanner
theorique 13y ago
Two words: Pre Check Seriously, this will change your life if you are a frequent flyer. Just get it.
BadassFractal 13y ago
As far as I can tell the only reason for TSA's existence is to give menial jobs to people who are out of whatever menial job they were doing before, likely because of automation or their services becoming unnecessary. Basically a gov's artificial attempt at creating jobs. Tbh I'd prefer if they were just given a stipend and allowed to stay at home, get their livelihood without having to harass and steal in exchange.
cafard 13y ago
In Boston I forgot to take off my belt, so a) I got the pat-down, and b) my belt and keys had to ride through the machine. The guy who did the pat down was fine. The kid at the end of the conveyor had never heard the expression "perv scanner" (which I used in explaining to my wife why I was still waiting) but took no umbrage whatever.

170 points by tocomment 13y ago

It would be interesting seeing an experiment on how an increase in the media can affect the overall morale of a certain profession. I highly doubt this increase in misconduct has nothing to do with their negative attention over the past decade.

coin 13y ago

> Their job is to keep air travelers safe in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks Not true, their job is to make people feel safer in the wake of September 11, 2011 attacks

blackaspen 13y ago
Emphasis on the "FEEL" is needed here.
- DamnYuppie 13y ago
  Agreed. Its also a works program for the incompetent.

thex86 13y ago

Like Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility," the TSA employees are exactly in that position -- they have the a great deal of power at their disposal and they are not trained to control it. One can also argue that they are just doing their job, but it's probably not as simple as that. On multiple occasions when I had to deal with them (I forgot to take out a water bottle of my bag), I have found them to be unnecessarily rude. It almost seemed as if the TSA agent was enjoying it thoroughly. And I know this first hand, having worked in a customer service position for many years, I can probably smell it.

Terretta 13y ago
Aside from the standard "customer service" jadedness, there's a class stratification at play: people who have to take a TSA screener job to pay the bills, versus people with enough income to fly. When you put an underclass in control of the overclass, don't be surprised when they try to wield whatever power they can, regardless of how disproportionate. It would be an interesting experiment to staff a TSA gate with frequent fliers selected "jury pool" style (say, one day of service for every 100k miles flown annually), and see if both passenger and agent job ratings are any different.
- mrtonykittens 13y ago
  I would be great at a job I knew I only had to perform for one day (or even one week). I also wouldn't be terribly concerned with upholding rules and laws, and just do it how I would want it to be done. Plus it would be fun and different, almost like a game. I can't believe we have juries.
dmead 13y ago
you know, guards at Auschwitz were just doing their jobs.
aestra 13y ago
I didn't take out my water bottle from my bag once, because I wasn't aware I was going to have to go through security a second time when arriving in the US from an international flight. It had one sip of water in it. I told them I would just drink the sip of water, unacceptable. The TSA employee told me that if I dumped it or drank it, that was fine, but I'd have to get in back of the line again. Why? I don't know. He sat there holding my water bottle saying "I'll only give it to you if you'll get in back of the line." I finally said fine, keep it. I still don't understand why I could drink it and get in back of the line, but I couldn't drink it and stay in front of the line. It seemed to me like he was just power tripping.

tsax 13y ago

Blame unionization. Why government employees are allowed to unionize will forever remain a mystery, for non-cynical reasons that is.

grimtrigger 13y ago
In some industries, governments are monopolies or near-monopolies. Take education. In order to even the negotiation, labor is given a monopoly as well. Not saying that it does more good than harm, just stating the reason.
- ChrisBland 13y ago
  Not to start a debate on public sector unionization here but the negotiations are not 'even' in public unions - the union holds all the power. In a private enterprise the two sides are equal, if labor demands too much the business and shut its door and remove their capitol from the marketplace, alternatively if the business demands too much the union can take their labor out of the market (a strike) and the business will suffer. So they have some incentive to work together for a solution. In public sector, there is no one representing the capital side of the equation. You can't just shut down or relocate the TSA because of union demands like you can close a business. We still have to fly, we still have to have police men on the streets and firemen responding to calls. The gvt can continue to spend recklessly and borrow to cover deficits. (See Detroit) while private sector business will eventually run out of money and both capital and labor will be reduced to 0. The union can spend a ton of money to get the people elected who will promise them the work-rules and benefits they want because the politician won't be around when the bills finally come due. Imagine if everyone in your company gave a few % of their salary to influence the hiring of your next CFO, or VP of HR and would only back candidates that would promise to increase pay. That is the power that the public sector unions have which leads to an imbalance in negotiations.
hga 13y ago
What's so difficult to understand? Governments "negotiate" with public sector unions and the taxpayers foot the bill. Public sector unions and union members then support the party of government (currently more the Democrats than Republicans, but that's subject to change) with money and legwork. It's a great game until the government runs out of money; see Detroit for the current stark object lesson in that.

beedogs 13y ago

It's amazing the kind of shit people put up with in the US. I'll remember to stare them in the face the next time a TSA agent touches my genitalia as a precursor to being allowed to board an aircraft.

tylermac1 13y ago
I've flown quite a few times in the last few months and have never had a TSA agent overstep their boundaries when doing a pat-down. I've had nothing but pleasant experiences going through security.
- JamesArgo 13y ago
  >I've had nothing but pleasant experiences going through security. Surely "pleasant" is too strong an adjective.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    Maybe he enjoys being manhandled. Some people appreciate physical contact anywhere they can get it.
    - tylermac1 13y ago
      I've never been "manhandled" by the TSA.
      - jlgreco 13y ago
        Well that certainly sheds some light on your "nothing but pleasant experiences", doesn't it? If you've never had a pat down, then it should not be surprising that they have never overstepped any boundaries during a pat down...
        tylermac1 13y ago
        I have had pat-downs. Where did you get that I've never had a pat down? Pat down != "manhandling"

znowi 13y ago

Do they conduct body cavity search yet? I think Americans can very well adapt to it.

gbin 13y ago

What do you think they are doing with the confiscated $100 perfume bottle you bought at the duty free ?

Zigurd 13y ago

I had a large check from a client lifted from my bag at a TSA checkpoint at JFK. New York area airports have also been in the news for theft rings operating in the checked baggage areas. They need to streamline the passenger security checks so that you can keep your bag under observation and reduce the time the TSA has access to it, and reduce the TSA workforce so they can implement higher standards.

gnu8 13y ago

Simply arresting all of the TSA employees would go a long way toward making air travel safer. Why aren't TSA employees required to register as sex offenders?

elmuchoprez 13y ago

I'd be curious how the misconduct numbers compare to other occupations granted special access, such as police. That would help me understand if the problem is specifically with the TSA or if the real issue is that granting anyone such deep and unchecked access leads to misconduct.

rdouble 13y ago

Any time I check a bag, something is stolen from it. I guess I'm supposed to be thankful the TSA has the consideration to leave one of those little "TSA went through your bag" memos with a disconnected phone number to call to report the missing items.

doktrin 13y ago

Anecdotal gripe : the amount of self-important power tripping and vicious snickering among TSA agents has been getting worse as of late. I feel as if I can't walk through a security line without overhearing one of their staff berating some other traveler for offenses as minor as expressing a wish to walk through the X-Ray instead of the 3-d scanner, or for not taking their liquids out of a bag (a rule which is arbitrarily enforced at best). I typically sympathize with positions and roles who are entrusted with security, and where success may be measured by a lone failure rather than otherwise sustained competency (much like a sysadmin). However, given what I perceive to be a pattern of escalating negative experiences this report does not surprise me in the slightest.

JPKab 13y ago
The TSA's hiring process is guaranteed (at least from my wife's personal experience with it here in DC) to hire shit-bags. My wife, after being a stay-at-home mom for years, wanted to get a job while going to college part-time. She applied and was eventually offered a job by the TSA at DCA airport. Upon looking at the hours, it was completely, utterly unworkable. Rather than a 40 hour a week job, they offered her 20 hours a week, which is reasonable, but get this: the 20 hour a week job had a schedule that completely changed week to week. This means that a person can't have ANY, and I mean ANY other responsibilities/jobs/schoolwork while working as an entry level TSA employee. She was told this was the standard in hiring new TSA workers. No wonder the lines are always staffed by people who, predominantly (with a few memorable exceptions), have a shitty work ethic, bad attitude towards customers, and poor problem solving skills. In other words, the people who can't get/hold a job anywhere else end up at TSA.
- rdouble 13y ago
  Not to defend the TSA, but most part time hourly jobs have variable schedules like that. I've even worked high paying sysadmin jobs that were like that.
- sueders101 13y ago
  What you're describing is how most young people(early to mid twenties) I know work. The best you can hope for is to set your availability while applying or during the hiring process so you at least have a few days of the week where you can consistently work on other things. This lessens your chance of getting hired and typically reduces the number of hours you work even on the days you're available.

lnanek2 13y ago

The actual report is here: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-624 http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-624 Apparently they did hire 3,200 more people as well. Although it does look like the percent increase in misconduct is greater than the percent increase in employees, new employees are often more trouble at the start and hiring quickly often forces you to lower your standards. I actually left a laptop in a stacked security tray a while back and the TSA called me asking about returning it the next day and kept it at their offices for me for the month it took me to get back from Asia for it. So there's definitely some good people manning the line as well. I didn't expect to get back something I made the mistake of forgetting.

jmduke 13y ago

Note that this is overall misconduct, not misconduct per employee. What has happened to the TSA's budget (the majority of which is spent on staffing) over the past three years?

socialist_coder 13y ago

The TSA stole a pair of $600 headphones out of my checked luggage. Fuck those guys. I learned my lesson though, never check expensive things.

IvyMike 13y ago
Your checked luggage is handled by a lot of non-TSA employees, too.
- hga 13y ago
  But it can't be seriously locked anymore, or at least the TSA will cut your lock if it's not one of the ones they have a master key for: http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/baggage-locks http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/baggage-locks There can't be very many master keys, and the payoff is so great for getting copies....
  - chiph 13y ago
    Take a gun with you. Seriously. [1] If you check a firearm (whether a "real" gun like a 9mm or a flare pistol), you have to check your bags. The interesting point is that once you do this, you are required to use a lock the TSA does not have a key for. There is also an increased standard of accountability & custody, as your bag will only be moved by a supervisor. [1] http://deviating.net/firearms/packing/ http://deviating.net/firearms/packing/
    - gknoy 13y ago
      I realize this is a duplicate of what someone else posted above [1], but: Be very careful that it is legal to carry/transport/own/etc that firearm at your destination! For example, New York. Don't bring one there. (I appreciate the tips from other HNers in that regard, I had no idea.) I'm not sure exactly what it is that is illegal in NY, in fact -- is it specifically airport related, or is it general ownership/carry/transport? 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6135445 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6135445

rayiner 13y ago

I'm pro welfare, and jobs programs for poor people and old people, but could we just pay them to sit at home instead?

mcculley 13y ago

I've been explaining the declining TSA situation in terms of the broken windows theory. Once an organization hits a tipping point where it is universally despised and its primary purpose annoys people, good people will leave and only undesirables will apply. This creates a feedback loop. It will take fundamental changes to reverse this.

astrodust 13y ago
Like shutting it down completely.
arkades 13y ago
Respectfully, I disagree. The socioeconomic status of the sorts of people that tend to despise the TSA, and the SES of the sorts of people that tend to be front-line TSA agents are very, very different. Those self-same TSA agents rarely fly (and thus bear no inconvenience), and are unlikely to have had the benefit of the sort of education that leads one to (a) despise incursions against civil liberties and (b) open opportunities for employment above that of a TSA agent.
- mcculley 13y ago
  I agree that there is not a good overlap between people employed by the TSA and people subjected to the policies of the TSA. I'm less convinced that there is a huge socioeconomic gulf between those groups. The cost of airfare relative to overall cost of living has substantially declined in my lifetime. I would agree with your assertion if the passengers of airlines were like they were 20 years ago. But my contemporary experiences suggest that anyone who has a salary of a TSA employee can afford to fly somewhere. I fly out of Orlando, Florida and I don't see a huge difference between the clientele of Southwest and the clientele of Walmart.

jmharvey 13y ago

You can prevent the TSA from rifling through your checked baggage outside of your presence (and helping themselves to whatever they want) by flying with a gun: http://lifehacker.com/5448014/pack-a-gun-to-protect-valuables-from-airline-theft-or-loss http://lifehacker.com/5448014/pack-a-gun-to-protect-valuable... Probably just about the only instance where having a gun can actually thwart a corrupt government official.

rdl 13y ago
I usually cheat and just carry a stripped lower receiver if I'm not going to be carrying at the destination. I avoid going to NYC to the extent possible, too, though. The TSA people sometimes lol. The ones who handle guns also seem to be the best ones at the airport, and especially at Seattle, I like talking to them (someday when I get my manufacturer FFL I hope to show off some hot title II stuff there) Tempted to start carrying an 80% lower, which is tech I ally not a firearm, to be even safer. Should still be able to get firearm service at the tsa for it.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  This gives me an idea: There might be a market for cheap-as-hell injection molded lower receivers, not really good for any sort of shooting at all, to be sold to travelers so that they can be "technically" carrying a gun. It would be considered disposable so they could just crack it in two and throw it away at their destination (or perhaps have the shops that sell them also buy them back). I figure injection molded plastic would be sufficient, as plastic lowers have already been demonstrated. It would only work to and from certain states of course. There are probably problems with selling and buying them back in airports, so disposal in some states may be a problem. If you are flying Kansas<->Vermont or similar it could probably be made to work though.
  - lightbritefight 13y ago
    If I'm not mistaken, you can use a flare gun and get the same kind of service. This is a fine, nominally non lethal option if you still want the same assurance as a gun, but don't care for the whole lethal weapon aspect of it.

aclimatt 13y ago

Just to clear up a misconception I'm seeing, the TSA does not use X-rays anymore, except maybe at very small airports (although I haven't seen one in years). The backscatter machines were replaced with millimeter wave scanners, which are far safer and less intrusive than x-rays. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimeter_wave_scanner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimeter_wave_scanner

theorique 13y ago

Two words: Pre Check Seriously, this will change your life if you are a frequent flyer. Just get it.

BadassFractal 13y ago

As far as I can tell the only reason for TSA's existence is to give menial jobs to people who are out of whatever menial job they were doing before, likely because of automation or their services becoming unnecessary. Basically a gov's artificial attempt at creating jobs. Tbh I'd prefer if they were just given a stipend and allowed to stay at home, get their livelihood without having to harass and steal in exchange.

cafard 13y ago

In Boston I forgot to take off my belt, so a) I got the pat-down, and b) my belt and keys had to ride through the machine. The guy who did the pat down was fine. The kid at the end of the conveyor had never heard the expression "perv scanner" (which I used in explaining to my wife why I was still waiting) but took no umbrage whatever.