The strange psychology of passenger-on-passenger theft at airports
Skift Take
Passenger theft in one of the most secured locations in a city is one of the strange realities of this hyper paranoid life. Not to be confused with TSA employes caught thieving, rather popular these days.
They fall for temptation and turn into thieves.
While going through airport security, passengers may spot a wallet, jewelry or a laptop in another traveler's bin and grab it, thinking no one's looking. But federal and local officers usually spot them via closed-circuit TV. And their planned excursion instead becomes a trip to jail.
"It's 100 percent a crime of opportunity," said Roy Liddicott, the Broward Sheriff's Office chief at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. "Most of these people have no criminal record. But they seize opportunity instead of doing the right thing."
On average, passenger-on-passenger theft occurs about 10 times per month at Miami International and about once a month at both the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Palm Beach international airports.
Typically, the theft occurs as a bin is rolling out of an X-ray machine, and the rightful owner isn't paying attention. Frequently, the victim is well on the way to the gate before realizing something is missing and runs back to the checkpoint to notify the Transportation Security Administration.
At that point, TSA security officers and police team up. They go into a closed-circuit TV monitoring station, as each checkpoint is under survei
