Something About This Seems Wrong
Don't get us wrong, the TSA should be confiscating knives, scissors, suspicious items, and other things that can be used as weapons at security checkpoints.
- HARRISBURG, Pa. A man-sized artificial palm tree and a sausage grinder share space in a state government warehouse with piles of Swiss Army knives and chain saws - just a few of the things travelers have had to give up at airport security checkpoints.
Pennsylvania turns a small profit by disposing of these castoff items, which it accepts from security contractors at 12 airports in five states, by selling them to the highest bidders at online auction site eBay.
It just seems wrong that they should be reselling this stuff at all and especially to make a profit. Something just feels wrong about the whole sordid situation. We can see where police departments sell unclaimed or confiscated items, usually the result of dope pinches, but stuff that isn't illegal to own (except as far as carrying it on a plane) and is easily traceable to a law abiding citizen who's just flying cross country to see grandma? Anyone else see a problem?
posted by SCC at 12:30 AM
22 Comments:
I think that's just outrageous, It's hard enough that people have to give up some of the things that they aren't allowed to bring along, but they are paying some hundred or so dollars for a plane ticket, thinking that their luggage will make it with them, to turn around and have someone take their stuff, and lock it up than resell it on Ebay is just plain ludacris.
The person should atleast be able to retrieve the item after they get to their destination, or something of that matter..
The balless decision makers at the TSA cannot differentiate between suspicious items possessed by a middle eastern airline passenger and two bottles of Shalimar perfume possessed by a seventy-year-old Polish grandmother from Niles, Il. Thats why we're in bad shape.
There is no reason they have to sell articles that don't belong to them. We have post offices now, you should be able to make arrangements at the airport, or call when you get home, pay a shipping fee and have them mail your articles to you. Or the airport could hold them for 30 days
in case you just might want to pick the items up traveling back and forth i.e. business travel.
Political correctness dictates that the 70 year old Polish grandmother be treated exactly the same way as the 21 year old male Egyptian student taking flying lessions and wearing a bulky winter jacket in August.
I have friends that flew in from New York on the day of the big confiscation. They said they saw TSA personnel fist fighting over expensive perfume that people had to discard. No one said a word to them. Why don't they have to inventory those items and let the people claim them at a later date?
i'd like to meet the dumbasses who are still toting knives to the airport.....they need a slap. dumb fucks. yeah, yeah.
I see a lawsuit. If we, as law enforcemnt officers "confiscate anything, including contraband, it is supposed to be inventoried and a receipt provided.
TSA, government agents who are glorified security guards just take your stuff. The government is taking property without accounting for it. This s an egregious constitutional problem.
It seems to me that we cannot ask that the government hold items for people to pick up. That would be asking too much to warehouse those items. However, if the item or items had some value that the owner wished to retain, a shipping service--at the owners expense--should be provided. It is common sense.
Any other coppers out there been singled out for "special attention" when they see your star in the little basket? One time they put me through the whole shoes and socks on and off FOUR times! I figured giving them attitude would make it take longer so I was very polite but it was so amateurish and pathetic when they would get yet another supervisor and go through the whole routine again. Is it jealousy of street coppers or did they think I had a gun up my ass? (None of your business if I did!)
Why do I see keep seeing TSA in uniform shopping at Jewel, much like CTA employees? Glorified doorknob shakers looking to get a discount/prestige. Police wannabees. I know a guy who works TSA and also part time as CLERK at a Chicago Public Library! He's always asking me questions about the job as if he doesn't know the first thing about criminals, police procedures, etc. To all you airline travellers, feel safe.
We were just talking about this, when the photo was in the Redeye.
Someone said that if you dont want to dispose of anything, you can go to United personnel and they'll take a look at the item(s) and give you a box to mail it home.
It's not right to be seeling these items, when they should be held for later or just destroyed. It also wouldn't surprise me if some employees would be stealing some of these things...
Keep in mind that for the most part the TSA, upon being created became a huge federal program for all the security guards that were working at the airport, for minimum wages. Now they are federal employees with union protection and don’t forget the pension too. What did you expect, another great window dressing by the powers that be in Washington. They are as useless as they were when they were security guards but now they are government employees. Also as we all know if they (terrorists) want it bad enough they will get it. The only answer is to kill them, their families, and eradicate the towns they came from. Then and only then will they stop. As long as it’s a trade off of 1 of them for 50 or more of us they will continue, when the odds become 1 of them for 50 of us for 3000 of their townspeople they will stop. And as a final guarantee bury them with a slice of ham in their mouths. Or in a pigs carcass (my apologies to pig lovers).
The TSA should have packaging materials and allow people to mail the offending items home. You should be able to step out of line address your box or envelope put the item inside seal it and the TSA should mail it for you.
There is no excuse for what these bastards have been getting away with for decades now.
A partnership with a private company and California's John Wayne Airport has created a mail you TSA contriband service for $9.00 per item.
They do what they want, just like SCC whats the difference ?
A great business to start up might be a FedEx or U.P.S. store in the airport.
Another thing people forget, 99.9% of the consumables you carry on are sold, in one form or brand or another, in 99.9% of the places you are going.
It can even be fun to shop for shampoo or what ever in a foreign country.
I would not call all those people who forget something they carry all the time in their pocket and forget to put in the check baggage dumb. Some are under a great deal of stress, more than just being a white knuckle flyer.
I did that one time. It was the trip when I knew that it was the last time I would see my mother alive.
I found a CPD airport cop, gave the item to her with my name and station address. It was waiting for me at work in the police mail when I got back.
I called her boss and asked him to tell her thanks and I think I sent her a police collectable pin or a patch.
I do not recall her name, but an old timer still remembers the kindness.
A little air travel tip. If possible, book a coach ticket on a flight with a First or a Business Class section. Check in early as possible and tell the gate agent, discretely, that you are a police officer and would be willing to assist if there was any problem. Very often this will get you and yours a free upgrade to First or Business Class with an aisle seat near the cockpit.
I have never had a problem carrying a pair of lightweight handcuffs while flying. Most airlines have flexible cuffs hidden away in their aircraft.
Please, if you get an upgrade, or not, whether the drinks are free or not, once you identify yourself as a police officer, please remain sober and professional. Alcohol can have a greater effect when flying so don’t embarrass yourself and the rest of us and maybe ruin a good perk.
Since I have been a P.O., I have always carried a handgun everywhere in the U.S. even before H.R. 218. Cops all across the country would ask me if I was carrying and I would hedge an answer. They would tell me if you are not you should be. If you choose to take one with you, it must be in a HARD, LOCKED CASE inside a locked checked luggage. The weapon must be unloaded and the ammunition packed separately in a locked checked bag. You must declare it, show ID, fill out a form and the agent will give you or place an orange tag to the case. IMPORTANT, an inexperienced, or bad-guy baggage clerk, may try to put the orange tag on the outside of the checked bag. Insist that the tag is placed on the locked gun case inside your checked and locked baggage.
Again if you are carrying a handgun in anywhere else in this country, stay sober and don’t do anything stupid. Be sure to show courtesy to any cop you meet while traveling, and to any cop traveling here, even if they are from Wisconsin.
If driving to Canada the sticker on your car can give you away. You can check you gun on the way in and pick it up one the way out with no trouble. The Customs Agent will ask you a list of questions including if you are carrying any firearms. Let your conscience be your guide on this, if you are not coming back the same way you went in. The tip off is, if the Customs Agent asks a SECOND time, “Are you sure you are not carrying any firearm?” If that happens, he/she is thinking about searching your vehicle, so suddenly remember and give it up and go to Plan B.
The TSA are damn NAZIs... I hope I get picked to get searched... I will coo like a schoolgirl to make them as uncomfortable as they make me. Maybe I'll even shove a banana in my pants... Let him feel that sucka!
Hey 4:54 your advise is well taken. After 9-11 I was flying out to Vegas and quietly informed the ticket agent that I was a P/O and willing to help out if anything should arise, guess what the agents father was CPD, got first class treatment. I also agree about not having any drinks, ah heck just have one!
Stay safe
4:54 again,
I forgot to mention that the T.S.A. will single you out for the closer inspection, if you check a firearm in your baggage.
Other places that will not let you enter with your weapon are many amusement parks like Six-Flags. There everyone goes through metal detectors and they will secure your weapon in a locker. It is not so much for security as they do not want a gun flying off, maybe hitting someone in the head when doing a loop-the-loop on the Superman or Batman ride. You might consider taking a pocket sized O.C. spray.
This is so much nicer now that OLE and all the other trash are gone. I may now tell my kid and friends about this blog.
Fly naked!
Anonymous said...
They do what they want, just like SCC whats the difference ?
8/13/2006 02:57:51 PM
DUH my tax dollars don't go to scc
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