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TSA Misconduct Up 26% in 3 Years

Posted at 5:27 PM, Jul 31, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-31 17:30:51-04

Screening_Checkpoint_Boston_Logan(CNN) — Let’s get this out of the way straight off: The Transportation Security Administration is probably not going to top anyone’s list of Favorite Federal Government Agencies.

And the stories of its failures spread faster than a speeding jetliner: TSA officers stealing money from luggage, taking bribes from drug dealers, sleeping on the job.

So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that a new Government Accountability Office report, citing a 26% increase in misconduct among TSA employees between 2010 and 2012, is striking a nerve with some travelers who’ve had to endure the shoeless, beltless shuffle on the trip through security.

“Whenever you get an organization that has to be there, sometimes it just starts to take on a weight of its own,” traveler Chris Simon said Wednesday at San Francisco International Airport. “So maybe it’s just not being managed.”

“This makes me never want to check my bag,” Twitter user KathrynPowers1 posted Wednesday in response to the news.

“That’s disgusting, ” tweeted user RidockKing.

Among the report’s findings:

— Misconduct cases involving TSA employees — everything from being late to skipping crucial security protocols — rose from 2,691 a year in 2010 to 3,408 in 2012.

— About a third of the cases involved being late or not reporting for work, the largest single category of offenses.

— 10% of offenses involved inappropriate comments or abusive behavior.

— About a quarter involved screening and security failures — including sleeping on the job — or neglect of duty offenses that resulted in losses or careless inspections.

Read the full story on CNN.