The TSA, keeping you safe from water, shoes and tubes of toothpaste one drug smuggler bribed TSO at a time The above message has been approved by, and brought to you by the TSA Spin Firm of Feh, Blech, Ralph, Belch and Hurl
So the question here is...if drugs can be smuggled through for $2400....do weapons or explosives have a price for some TSA agents too? I mean, of course, when they are not just missing them flatout anyway through their super expert and thorough checks...
That's the kind of questioning that gets most people labeled as the lunatic fringe, but it's a very valid question. And one the TSA will retort by saying "this is only one bad apple, it does reflect on everyone else" and/or "our employees have been given thorough background checks."
Well, ask Kip Hawley that question... http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/live-chat-kip-hawley-former-tsa-administrator.34538/ Only takes one bad apple to get the bad stuff on a plane, no?
Simple answer: TSA should be looking for immediate threats to planes (guns, bombs). They should not be looking for drugs, counterfeit goods, undocumented immigrants, or anything else. That removes the need for drug smugglers to bribe them, and let's them focus on one specific thing.
If those items/people are illegal, why shouldn't they point it out??? People will engage in bribery for all sorts of things...seems like a waste to "see" drugs or illegal documents and ignore it...
While i agree that they should point them out when they happen to see them (shouldn't we all?), should they actively look for them? Should they, as has happened, question people who carry "large" sums of money just because that's unusual and apparently suspicious to them? If I happen to carry a suitcase full of CDs or DVDs through airport security, should they worry whether they are counterfeit?
You can roll your eyes all you like but it doesn't make what I say any less rational. The reason we have airport security screening is to protect planes from immediate threats. It is not to have a general police check-point to look for anything illegal. Having the TSA enforce other laws distracts them from their stated mission, provides vastly increased risk of them being corrupted (drugs are big business with lots of money at stake), infringes our 4th amendment rights, and slows/complicates the security screening process. It's not their mission to look for drugs; they are not experts in what is legal or illegal. The IRS doesn't enforce laws unrelated to their mission (e.g., you can report income from illegal activity).
