Tag Archives: airport

Convicted TSA Officer Reveals Secrets of Thefts at Airports – ABC News

By MEGAN CHUCHMACH (@megcourtney) , RANDY KREIDER and BRIAN ROSS (@brianross)

Sept. 28, 2012

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.

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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.

READ: ABC News Tracks Missing iPad to Florida Home of TSA Officer

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.

via Convicted TSA Officer Reveals Secrets of Thefts at Airports – ABC News.

Hindu deities/gods displayed at “Gateway to the Pacific”

San Francisco Airport (SFO), among the world’s busiest and in the top 30 airports, calls itself the “Gateway to the Pacific”.

Inside, is the SFO Museum who is hosting the exhibition “Deities in Stone: Hindu Sculpture”

The museum was established in 1980 as one the first cultural institutions to be located inside an international airport to receive major accreditation.

The “Deities in Stone: Hindu Sculpture” exhibition will contain idols and relics of a number of Hindu gods that have been used in religious ceremonies.

These idols will be on display until next February.

See Lord Ganesha graces San Francisco Airport.

Researchers list top 10 airports for spreading disease

Disease might not be spreading from people, maybe its the airports.

A recent study looking at the 40 largest airports in the Unites States performed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Civil and Environmental Engineering department looked at the airports most likely to spread a disease.

  1. JFK International, New York
  2. Los Angeles International Airport
  3. Honolulu International Airport
  4. San Francisco International Airport
  5. Newark Liberty International Airport
  6. Chicago O’Hare International Airport
  7. Washington Dulles International Airport
  8. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
  9. Miami International Airport
  10. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

see Researchers list top 10 airports for spreading disease – CNN.com.

Third bunch of TSA firings suggests failures

Eight TSA (Transportation Security Administration) officers were fired at the Newark airport this Wednesday for sleeping on the job and or for other employment infractions.

This is the third large TSA group firing this month alone. The workers fired were seen on video sleeping in a checked baggage area at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Also this month: •Seven were fired in Philadelphia after one worker was convicted of bribery.

•Five were fired and 37 more, including the director, were suspended in Fort Myers, Fla., for not conducting additional screenings on hundreds of individuals. Last month:

•Four TSA agents were charged with drug trafficking and bribery, two of which were current and two who were former employees. The union representatives for the TSA workers; the American Federation of Government Employees, didn’t respond to any requests for further information or comment.

For more on security see this teaching from prophet.tv

from Third cluster of TSA firings suggests ‘something is failing’ – USATODAY.com.