PolicyGuy

Monday, February 23, 2004


Thieves among Airport Screeners
Writing in the suburban Chicago paper, the Daily Herald, Chuck Goudie recounts his tale of woe. He suspects that government workers in the TSA (Transportation Security Agency) pilfered his checked luggage, robbing him of an expensive short-range radio, a cellphone charger, and a cigarette lighter, which was empty.

We won't know conclusively, of course, but the response of a TSA representative brings to mind the response of "How much more would we hear of this if it happened with a private company in charge?" Since 9/11, the official response which has involved the greatest number of personnel has been the war in Iraq. The mass firing of contract screeners and the creation of the TSA has been the second largest response. While the war has rid the world of a, well, world-class tyrant, the beneficial effects of a new bureaucracy are less than certain.

Here are the relevant excerpts from Goudie's essay:

When TSA agents open your suitcase and dig through your socks and underwear, they are supposed to leave behind a piece of paper that states, "We were here." ...

On the day that my items were removed, there was no note left behind as required by the regulations. ...

[A TSA representative] said that because no TSA note was left behind, it was obvious that a TSA inspector never opened my bag. ...

TSA later fired 1,200 federal screeners after background checks revealed they had lied on their applications or had criminal histories including felonies. ....

I could file an airline claim to receive a maximum of $2,500 for stolen luggage. But all the airlines exclude things such as electronics, cash, jewelry and anything else attractive to unscrupulous employees.
Meanwhile, the Reason Public Policy Institute has offered several worthy proposals on how to increase aviation security.

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"Justice Louis D. Brandeis'?s metaphor of the states as "laboratories" for policy experiments ... had almost nothing to do with federalism and everything to do with his commitment to scientific socialism. .... To this day, it continues to inhibit a truly experimental, federalist politics." -- Michael S. Greve

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