When travelers are going through any airport security checkpoint, there’s an expectation that yes, the experience might be annoying, but that at least Transportation Security Administration screeners are going to behave professionally. A new report out of Denver says that expectation was not upheld by two screeners accused of working out how to tweak the system so that one worker could grope the genitals of attractive male travelers.
CBS4 in Denver says it obtained law enforcement reports that detail the alleged scam at Denver International Airport, leading to the termination of two TSA employees.
According to that information, the workers pulled off their scheme about a dozen times. A male TSA screener allegedly told a female coworker in 2014 that he “gropes” men coming through the screening area using a plan he developed with another colleague.
“He related that when a male he finds attractive comes to be screened by the scanning machine he will alert another TSA screener to indicate to the scanning computer that the party being screened is a female. When the screener does this, the scanning machine will indicate an anomaly in the genital area and this allows (the male TSA screener) to conduct a pat-down search of that area.”
TSA apparently learned of the allegations on Nov. 18, 2014 by way of an anonymous tip from another TSA worker, but it appears nothing was done for three months. In February, a TSA security supervisor was observing employees and says he caught the screener in the act.
“At about 0925 he observed (the male TSA screener) appear to give a signal to another screener … (the second female screener) was responsible for the touchscreen system that controls whether or not the scanning machine alerts to gender- specific anomalies,” according to the law enforcement report cited by CBS4.
The report says the TSA supervisor then saw a male passenger enter the scanner, and watched as the female agent pressed the screening button for a female. The anomaly alert went off, and the investigator witnessed the male screener patting down “the passenger’s front groin and buttocks area with the palm of his hands, which is contradictory to TSA searching policy.”
During an interview later with the female TSA agent, the supervisor says she “admitted that she has done this for (the male TSA officer) at least 10 other times. She knew that doing so would allow (the male TSA officer) to perform a pat down on a male passenger that (the male TSA screener) found attractive.”
“These alleged acts are egregious and intolerable. TSA has removed the two officers from the agency,” the agency said in a statement. “All allegations of misconduct are thoroughly investigated by the agency. And when substantiated, employees are held accountable.”
CBS4 Investigation: TSA Screeners At DIA Manipulated System To Grope Men’s Genitals [CBS4]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist