Having recently flown from the UK to Hong Kong and then on to Manila, I am suddenly struck by how much of an honesty policy we are expected to follow. The idea of tagging the laptop as in India is a step in the right direction, but at no point in my journey was my laptop tagged. It was placed in a bin with all my other valuable possessions (phone, wallet, camera) and it's only through practise that I manage to get through the scanners at the same time as my possessions. At any point after I gave my laptop over to security, someone could have stepped up and claimed it as their own. Security provides exactly zero defense for this, and it's only through vigilence that I've never lost anything yet.
I do understand the need to scan the laptop separately to its bag, but this honesty policy just failed hard. It's a stupid system. The only workaround is to keep everything in sight until you're 100% ready to step through the scanner, and then watch the other side of the belt for all your stuff.
The fact that the TSA handed the laptop to someone other than its rightful owner lands them straight in the blame for this. At the risk of increasing the time required to clear security, a big fuss was made last year that all electronics must have charged batteries so that it can be demonstrated they work (not that this solves the key problem). If the TSA want to personally pick up someone's laptop, they should ask the owner to power it on and enter the password to prove it's theirs before they hand it back. Yes, this also incurs a privacy issue (intentionally defeating your own security system), but as repeatedly demonstrated, border controls have some quite far-reaching powers and can force this anyway.
Edit: also, shame on the security people and the police for dismissing the idea of a crime being committed. Intentional or not, this is theft. As others have commented, it's possible the two women were working together to steal a laptop, but even if it was an honest mistake, it should be investigated as if it were intentional. And the reluctance of the people involved to give case numbers, log it etc. just reeks of 'we lost your bag, thank you for flying Delta Airlines'. I sincerely hope this guy gets at least a check for a new laptop and an apology.
As a "tulip" (opt-out), the forced trust is even worse. You're not even allowed to ask for a pat-down before your things are on the conveyor. I've tried. Usually the timing works out OK, but sometimes it doesn't.
My most infuriating TSA experience was at MIA. I told them I was opting out, and they instructed me to put my things on the conveyor. I did so, then proceeded to wait. And wait. And wait. After 10 minutes, during which I repeatedly asked for a "male assist", I had to cave and go through the back-scatter machine because my possessions (laptop, wallet, phone) was sitting unattended on the other side.
I'm very polite to TSA. That was an instance of blatant targeting, and you better believe my the end of those 10 minutes I was not polite. I did some consulting for TSA, and I'm pretty sure I was loudly speaking about "violating the agency's core strategic goal to facilitate legitimate trade and travel" while flipping the double-bird in the backscatter machine.
True story. Surprised I wasn't pulled into a back room.
For the most part, TSA aren't actual security or law enforcement personnel, they are closer in training and function to low-wage service employees that you would find in the hospitality and retail industries. I'd imagine they meet with this type of hostility with a mix of amusement, annoyance, and general "oh man I can't wait for my shift to be over". As long as the hostility isn't directed at them personally - and sometimes probably if it is- it's just another aspect of the job.
The problem, of course, comes in when under-trained, undereducated TSA employees are expected to perform the actual functions of law enforcement. 99% of their security function is pulling bottles of water, toothpaste, and sunscreen from customers' bags, the other 1% is a crap shoot in terms of a competent reaction.
I once saw a man take what I thought was my bag, and started yelling, "THAT MAN IS TAKING MY PROPERTY!"
Everyone completely ignored me. I realized my mistake about 30 seconds later, but he could have just walked off with my things to disappear onto a plane with a few thousand dollars worth of hardware, my wallet, cellphone, and a spare pair of socks.
Wha? Taking someone else's property and walking off with it, is pretty intentional. No way that was an accident, or done without knowing what they were doing.
Maybe, but that's not what I said. I said taking something unintentionally is not theft, because theft requires intent. I didn't say anything about the specific situation.
I do understand the need to scan the laptop separately to its bag, but this honesty policy just failed hard. It's a stupid system. The only workaround is to keep everything in sight until you're 100% ready to step through the scanner, and then watch the other side of the belt for all your stuff.
The fact that the TSA handed the laptop to someone other than its rightful owner lands them straight in the blame for this. At the risk of increasing the time required to clear security, a big fuss was made last year that all electronics must have charged batteries so that it can be demonstrated they work (not that this solves the key problem). If the TSA want to personally pick up someone's laptop, they should ask the owner to power it on and enter the password to prove it's theirs before they hand it back. Yes, this also incurs a privacy issue (intentionally defeating your own security system), but as repeatedly demonstrated, border controls have some quite far-reaching powers and can force this anyway.
Edit: also, shame on the security people and the police for dismissing the idea of a crime being committed. Intentional or not, this is theft. As others have commented, it's possible the two women were working together to steal a laptop, but even if it was an honest mistake, it should be investigated as if it were intentional. And the reluctance of the people involved to give case numbers, log it etc. just reeks of 'we lost your bag, thank you for flying Delta Airlines'. I sincerely hope this guy gets at least a check for a new laptop and an apology.