U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter is asking the House Homeland Security committee to hold hearings about problems with security screeners at Denver International Airport that were exposed by 9News recently.
Multiple screeners with the Transportation Security Administration in Denver told 9Wants to Know that upper management plays favorites, engages in nepotism, and harasses, intimidates and retaliates against screeners they don’t like and want to get rid of.
9News also obtained an internal report about the TSA in Denver that said screeners have lost faith in their managers to secure the airport. A Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report in May 2008 also highlighted some of the same complaints by other TSA employees nationwide.
Transportation Security officers, or TSOs, say the work environment is so stressful at DIA because of the harassment that they can not fully concentrate on their main job of screening passengers and luggage.
“TSOs cannot afford to be wrong even once, so if these allegations are true, it indicates many TSOs might be more concerned about issues unrelated to security as they conduct their jobs,” Perlmutter wrote in a letter to three leaders of the committee Thursday.
Police and complaint records show someone who had access to secure areas put a dead rat in a supervisor’s locker who had a phobia of rodents, pepper-sprayed her and another employee as they were leaving work, spiked their car tires and smashed their windshields in an employee lot at DIA.
“Security cannot be maintained when officers fear retaliation for their conduct,” wrote Perlmutter, who is on a homeland security rules committee. “We must provide TSA with the tools to appropriately investigate wrongdoing, increase on-the-job training and foster an environment of cohesion, effectiveness and security above all else.”
