TSA Deputy Administrator John Halinski defended his management before Congress yesterday following a damning report on airport agents’ behavior released by the GAO.
Some felt the Government Accountability Office report seemed to draw a picture of a culture of where misdeeds, and the nation’s security, were not taken seriously enough. Literally and figuratively, TSA was at times asleep on the job.
The report found more than 9,600 cases of misconduct within the Transportation Security Administration between 2010 and 2012, with the number steadily rising over the years.
Only 17% of the perpetrators were fired; most were either reprimanded or suspended.
"I’ve given you my word," Halinski told Congress. "If they’re stealing, they’re doing drugs, or they’re breaching the security system intentionally and I can prove it, they’re out."
The acts of misconduct varied widely. Some TSA officers were found napping on the job; more than 3,000 instances involved screeners who either left their shift without permission, arrived late, or didn’t show up at all.
In some cases agents let their families and friends through security with prohibited items.
But there also were 56 cases of theft and bribery. One TSA agent admitted stealing between $10,000 and $30,000 from passengers; two admitted taking $40,000 from a traveler’s bag at New York’s JFK Airport.
In many cases, employees who broke the rules were given light punishments.
Less than a third of those involved in misconduct were suspended, and only 17% were fired.
Nearly half only got a letter of reprimand.
