Friday, October 19, 2012

Transportation Security Administration plans to fire 25 employees, suspend 19 for improper screening of bags at Newark Liberty International Airport (KEWR), Newark, New Jersey

NEWARK — Capping a year-long investigation prompted by reports of theft in a baggage room at Newark Liberty International Airport, the Transportation Security Administration said it it was moving to fire 25 employees and suspend 19 others for failing to ensure that checked bags were being screened adequately.

The 44 Newark employees served with termination or suspension notices today, combined with eight dismissals at the airport in June under the same investigation, make it the largest personnel action taken by the TSA since the security agency was created in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks

"TSA holds all of its employees to the highest professional and ethical standards and has a zero tolerance for misconduct in the workplace,” a TSA spokeswoman, Lisa Farbstein, said in a statement.

“Accountability is an important aspect of our work and TSA takes prompt and appropriate action with any employee who does not follow our procedures and engages in misconduct.”

The total of 52 employees caught up in the Newark probe surpasses the total of 48 screeners and supervisors fired or suspended by the TSA last year at Honolulu International Airport for failing to check bags for explosives.

The Newark employees ranged from entry level transportation screening officers up through the airport’s TSA leadership team under Federal Security Director Donald Drummer, who remains in charge. Drummer has led an effort to improve performance at Newark Liberty since taking charge of the airport’s screening operation in April 2011 following a string of high-profile security lapses and plummeting morale.

Today’s dismissals and suspensions are unrelated to a recent evaluation of screeners in Newark by colleagues from other airports posing as passengers. An internal document obtained by The Star-Ledger indicated, among other shortcomings, that Newark screeners conducted pat-downs properly in just 16.7 percent of the time, and never informed passengers of their right to opt out of a full body scan or of their right to opt back in once informed of the alternative – a pat-down.

The evaluation, which the TSA said was routine for major airports, did not result in disciplinary action, but rather was used to re-emphasize proper screening procedures.

The investigation culminating with today’s action began last fall following reports that a TSA employee was stealing from checked luggage in a baggage screening room away from public view inside Newark’s Terminal B. That person later resigned.

But what began as a criminal investigation into suspected property crime quickly evolved into a wide-ranging probe of lax screening procedures and inadequate supervision representing a threat to the safety of the flying public.

Using hidden security cameras during November and December of last year, the TSA said it caught dozens of screeners on tape failing to physically search bags that had been flagged during the X-ray process. Investigators also determined that supervisors and managers had failed to ensure bags were searched.

The investigation was run by the TSA’s Office of Inspection in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security, the TSA’s parent agency.

The TSA said the employees being fired or suspended, who were not identified, have the right to appeal the measures.

“The decision to take disciplinary actions today with the proposed removal of 25 individuals and suspension of 19 others reaffirms our strong commitment to ensure the safety of the traveling public and to hold all our employees to the highest standards of conduct and accountability," Farbstein said.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KEWR

Source:  http://www.nj.com

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