Misconduct cases among Transportation Security Administration workers rose 26 percent over the last three years, according to a government watchdog.
The number of misconduct cases rose to 3,408 last year from 2,691 in 2010, according to the Government Accountability Office. Nearly one-third (32 percent) of the cases involved attendance and 20 percent dealt with violating security standards such as allowing travelers and luggage to bypass screening.
Nearly half the cases (47 percent) resulted in letters of reprimand describing unacceptable conduct of the workers, 31 percent resulted in suspensions and 17 percent resulted in the worker leaving the agency, according to the GAO.
“While TSA has taken steps to help manage the investigations and adjudication process, such as providing training to TSA staff at airports, additional procedures could help TSA better monitor the investigations and adjudications process,” said in a 38-page report from Stephen Lord, director of homeland security issues for the GAO.
The cases are sometimes publicized. A TSA officer at Orlando’s airport pleaded guilty in 2011 to embezzlement and theft for stealing 80 laptop computers and other electronics worth $80,000 from passengers’ luggage.
In a written reply, TSA said it created a special employee relations office in 2004 to provide supervisors and managers the ability to deal with misconduct. In 2010, the agency created an office of professional responsibility to review and adjudicate allegations of misconduct investigated by the inspector general’s office.
“When employees engage in misconduct, it undermines the mission and the public trust,” wrote Jim Crumpacker, director of the agency’s liaison office with the GAO. “TSA takes these matters very seriously and strives to ensure that the actions taken in response to allegations of misconduct are appropriate and timely.”
The House Homeland Security Committee is holding a hearing on TSA personnel misconduct Wednesday.
The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, voiced frustration that TSA doesn’t have a system to adjudicate misconduct cases consistently a decade after the agency was created.
“Failing to do so leaves TSA vulnerable to claims that punishment for misconduct could be tainted by influences beyond the facts of each case,” Thompson said.
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