Airport Ag Inspectors: We Lied on Forms

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Airport Ag Inspectors: We Lied on Forms

By JIM ELLIS
Saturday, May 26, 2007; 8:22 PM

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Six customs inspectors have told federal
officials that superiors instructed them to enter false data
indicating airline passengers had been stopped and inspected
for plant and animal contraband.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers allege that
in 2005, supervisors at Orlando Sanford International Airport
told them to falsify information typically gathered during
direct interviews and inspections of international passengers
or crew members, according to a report by the U.S. Office of
Special Counsel.

-snip-

The inspectors told the Special Counsel's office that they
were instructed to enter the false data because the airport
was busy.

-snip-

Customs and Border Protection spokesman Zachary Mann
declined to discuss the case when contacted by The
Associated Press on Saturday, but said the agency takes
all allegations of wrongdoing seriously.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/26/AR2007052601087.html

[williesgirl]

1. Nothing surprises me anymore. This Admin can't govern & doesn't even try. recommended

[fooj]

2. Florida, eh? In 2005? Wasn't Jeb still the Governor?

KNOW YOUR BFEE.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Not just Florida. Orlando.

Maybe we need an Attorney General purge down here, and start all over again.

[Igel]

9. LIke it matters.

This was federal.

Of course, I long ago stopped paying attention to what I can and can't legally bring into the country. Jamaica, Britain, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic (2x), Mexico a few times ... never stopped, never even slowed down.

(Not that other countries are any better ... I had a much, much harder time getting through a simple security checkpoint in D'Orly than all my customs experiences combined. Had the wonderful experience of trying to explain eye-tracking equipment to a monolingual French-speaking high-school graduate with a Napoleon complex while my two-year-old was pitching a fit.)

[Trillo]

4. So why do we punish our children when they lie?

It'll be interesting to see if higher ups get punished, or whether that is only reserved for the 'little people' who did what they were told.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. They probably had to search Al Gore...

At a departure gate.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

6. I think this happens alot,

one time I flew Delta into the US from Canada my flight to Salt Lake City was delayed by more than an hour and I had literally 5 minutes to make my connection and they were holding the plane.

When you fly to the US they put these big tags that say in big black letters that it was international baggage and it had to be screened before being put on the connecting flight. When I collect my bags at LAX or SNA there is always a holographic sticker on the tags that say at which airport the bags were screened at.

I had assumed there was no possible way my bags would make the connection because they had to be screened, as I sat down on the plane I saw a truck pull up along side the plane with my two bags in the back.

I was delighted to have my bags, but when I arrived at SNA and I saw my bags the orange tags that said they had to be screened had been taken off.

This has happened twice, every other time I received the bags with the tags that said they had to be screened and a holographic sticker that confirmed they had been.

I asked an airline person I know about this and they said it is done all the time on flights from Canada because they arrive at domestic US terminals where there is no active enforcement, and if caught flimsy paper tags fall off all the time.

[54anickel]

7. Aww come on, give 'em a break and cut 'em some slack - it was BUSY!!!

Without cutting corners there'd be delayed flights, missed deadlines, possible (heaven forbid) financial penalties.
We're all in business to make money, ya know. They do national security when it's convenient - what more do you want? Asking them to take the time when it's BUSY costs money!!! It's not like they're getting paid extra or anything.

Just to cover my ass (as if it's needed) :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Hekate]

8. As they learned from Our Dear Leader: It's hard work (being incompetent, that is)!!! nt

[OneBlueSky]

10. is there ANYTHING BushCo hasn't fucked up? . . . n/t

.