Why are those who are put in place to "server and protect" often the same ones who screw us.

@bladefist: because they are often the ones who where the bullies in high school, and often are one step over janitor in many places.

In my city I could name you a handful of exceptional SGT and Detectives that would for us, while i could easily name 20-30 who where complete lowlifes in high school who where constantly suspended.

In this day and age of our corrupt law enforcement officers who's into tasing anyone and anything at any chance they get
You lost my sympathies with that line pal. First of all TSA rent-a-cops do not merit comparison with real officers of the law, who risk their lives every day for you and your community. Are there bad ones out there? Absolutely. But don't generalize it to the point where every cop is stereotyped as corrupt and use excessive force (two very different things, BTW). There's unprofessional individuals in every field, bad cops get all oh the attention, though (and they deserve it, due to the high responsibility and impact of the job.) But they don't all deserve this shit. Not every doctor is a Kevorkian and cops aren't as overwhelmingly substantial in the thin blue line that protects us.

Because police are our enemies.

For the TSA, it's a War on Passengers, not Terrorism.

@Bay State Darren: Ironically it's often the rent-a-cops that get off on their perceived power and end up abusing it, not the actual police. Your mileage may vary.

@Bay State Darren: and bad cops aren't as overwhelmingly substantial in the thin blue line that protects us.

i would have gotten arrested. then i could have sued for more money

@Bay State Darren: +1

@INconsumer:

Assuming that you survive, yes.

One of my co-workers had the same thing happen to him. The told him that they needed to inspect laptops for a new explosives screening. When they dropped it, he said, "If that's the new test, I guess I passed." At which time they threatened to have him removed from the airport.

@bladefist:

They are 5-10$ an hour rent a cops.... nothing more..

I wonder if Jake had his laptop listed under his renter's/home-owners insurance. This would be a good time to file a claim.

The should have just shown his receipt! LOL

TSA employees on a power trip seems to be a common theme to these stories. Aren't these the same people who would otherwise be taking your order at McDonalds while letting you know with their body language that they have nothing but utter contempt for you.?

This whole TSA police state is playing out exactly as predicted by the Stanford prison experiment.
[en.wikipedia.org]

I'm surprised the TSA employees aren't issued mirrored sunglasses and leather boots.

I would have immediately pulled out a sound-recording device (recorder, camera, phone, etc) and recorded the whole conversation. If you actually got an agent threatening you with false arrest for asserting your rights, you would be a lock for a million-dollar lawsuit victory.

I'm into recording any conversation of significance these days, hoping for just such a payout.

To BayStateDarren: Kervorkian was not a bad doctor, he is an example of a good doctor.

If your laptop hadn't have been dropped, the terrorists would have won.

Maybe al Qaida has developed a new exploding 'hover laptop' and the TSA agent was merely making sure yours was a good old-fashioned American gravity dependent laptop. Think before you complain next time.

Seriously, it sucks when authority is abused like this. And it sucks worse that it's gonna take you a year to get an compensation. Maybe if they wait long enough, they can claim your laptop is obsolete and that they only owe you $100 for the 'old piece of junk.'

I don't Condone what happened but please realize that most of the TSA people are the exact same security guards with less than 40 hours of training as they were before 9/11 just with a nifty name. Don't bunch rent-a-cops in with real law enforcement officers. This is coming from a Criminal Justice and Security student that has seen things from both sides.

Don't make me out to be saying that there aren't bad cops...there are...but they are far less prevalent that the media makes it out to be.

In this instance Jake did exactly the right thing and not making problems for himself and he might want to contact the Airport manager by phone to file a complaint.

Unfortunately, giving underpaid, undereducated petty bureaucrats and clerks the power to have people miss their flights, be detained, harassed or arrested is an invitation to abuse. Insufferable, self-righteous, bullying pricks gravitate naturally and happily to work where they can impose rules upon other people.

I am so sick of these stories of abused powers. Even though this particular jerk-off didn't go the whole 9 yards, he would have, and would have been wrong.

@TinyBug: You summed up what I was going to say. When employees are properly screened prior to employment, properly trained once hired, and paid decently, the odds are greater that these employees will handle their jobs much, much better.

Nothing to see here, move along. And take your crappy broken laptop with you.

That's a total bummer. The TSA is a joke. They dropped & damaged an expensive camera of mine during "extended screening" a couple of years ago. I filed a claim and it was denied.

Basically, they wanted to get him to move along so they wouldn't be the ones who got in trouble for breaking it. "Making a scene" is not an arrestable offense. You getting violent threatening people would be.

Besides, if you got arrested for them breaking your laptop and them not caring, they would make a larger scene with news reporters, not to mention the increased monetary damages. Their logic seems to fail me. Then again, I suppose that is the issue with people who have had a poor education.

I would have called the police. What happened was a crime, unless of course there are notices posted saying that they aren't responsible for any damage. I doubt the TSA supervisor would have had as much an attitude when talking to the real cops. Although, I can see how someone holding up the line would be a security concern. At the same time, it is not usually what you say but how you say it that makes people treat you the way they do.

If Bay State Darren would stop sucking the cops off for five minutes and look at the situation, he wouldn't make such stupid comments about the person this happened to. Waaaah you lost me. What a putz.

@Jerim: Even if there were signs posted saying they weren't responsible, that wouldn't have covered them, since they require you to comply with the TSA agents and they took it and dropped it.

I can't put up a sign on my front lawn saying I'm not responsible for people being shot and then take pot shots at people coming through my yard.

I don't know if would help, but if everyone reading dashed off a letter to their congresspeople and senators indicating that they were tired of TSA goons who have way too much power, way too little accountability and zero effectiveness, it certainly couldn't hurt.

Wow authority without liability.... Dont take threats lightly, I would sue the pants of them for making threats like that.

@sumobudah: Actually, I think we're learning that they are far MORE prevalent than anybody realizes -- in large part because it's so easy for them to cover things up, and cover for each other.

I guess I have to wonder:
Jake, why do you hate America? Clearly causing a ruckus in the line presents a serious security threat. Furthermore, seeking monetary compensation from the TSA diverts essential dollars from the war on terror, putting us all at risk. And finally, by breaking your laptop, didn't the TSA do us all a favor by forcing you to spend new money on semi-durable goods, like a new laptop, you would have thrown away on frivolous purchases? The TSA's action results in a net gain for us all, keeping us safer, more secure, and feeding the economic machine.

If you can't get behind that, you clearly hate America, and Glenn Beck will be by later to set your house on fire.

(And if anyone can't tell that the above was sarcasm, get your heads inspected. Well, not all of the above. Seriously, don't let Beck anywhere near your house. He'd probably set your house on fire just for sport. Then he'd spit on you and invite Nancy Grace over to roast marshmallows over the dying embers of your roasted possessions.)

@cabinaero: and get dinged for actually using it in a situation that isn't his fault? no way.

@omerhi:

Ummm...I'm gonna take a guess that you don't live in Tennessee then.

Greyhound it is!

The problem with the bad cops and the publicity that surrounds them is that they typically don't even get a slap on the wrist, while their victims suffer, financially, at the very least, trying to avoid jail time. If the good cops (of which there are many) would actually do something about the bad ones, they would receive a lot more trust from the rest of us. As long as they sheltering bad cops behind the blue wall, they should NOT complain about the lack of public trust.

I hope you didn't damage the airport's carpet with your laptop, terrorist.

@phelander:

Abusing other commenters is unnecessary and uncalled for.

Think how much better the TSA's service would be if their workforce was unionized.

@phelander: It really doesn't help the discussion by following a "stupid comment" with one that's not only inane, but insulting.

@bbbici: Yeah, Kevorkian didn't go around killing people. He assisted those that wanted his assistance. No cop would do that, especially a TSA jerk.

I just completed a flight with my laptop, they never touched my laptop, I simply laid it in a bin of it's own (outside the case), and took it out on the other end!

That's a Sony Vaio K series by the looks of it, and that damned battery door falls off if you breathe on it funny. Unfortunately without the door the battery slides out like it was coated with baby oil.

That being said, this guy should file a formal complaint including the names of the TSA employees on top of the claims. It's not going to do any good because I'm sure they have tenure without having tenure, but it will at least get the guy a slap on the wrist, and hopefully he's done this to dozens of other complainers too so there's a rolling record on him.

I'd probably be a mean jackass too if I was making minimum wage and had to deal with tons of traveling people daily.

@MYarms: And that makes it right? This situation will become the norm as the Department of Fatherland Security keeps up their shit and we get TSA checkpoints at state lines as well.

@bbbici:
What are the laws regarding that? Can you make a sound recording without their knowledge? It is a public place so no one should have an expectation of privacy. Can any real attorneys comment?

@Bay State Darren:

That's right. TSA isn't Law Enforcement.
I mean, they can't arrest you or anything, right?

@Myron:

Oh come on...give them some credit. Some of them might be unarmed rentacops, some might be changing oil, there's a bunch of menial, low-paying jobs they could be doing instead.

@MYarms:

I've never heard of a TSA job that paid minimum wage. Most I've seen advertised are like 10-12 bucks an hour.

@Landru:

Are their supervisors licensed law enforcement officers, I wonder?

@Lonestar: they are $15-$20/hr rent a cops.

The problem with the TSA is the same problem with much of our society. Basically, society is run by $8/hr employees. These people really don't care about you or anyone else. They work hard for their very low wage and don't really want to take gruff from anyone.
Even if they make a mistake, why should they care? It's not their device that broke. They are in a position of power and they are quite happy being able to order people who make MANY times their salary around.
As a society, we are all to blame. We allow a very un-intelligent person to make decisions that affect us and the rest of the world. Our government is heavily influenced by corruption and lobbiests that have very deep pockets.
People don't govern for their own good, they do it w/o knowledge of the people or places they represent.
We have democrats who want to raise taxes, charge for what should be free, and support money grubbing organizations like the MPAA and RIAA. And we have republicans who let their own religious teachings get in the way of sane judgement.

What really needs to happen is essentially a reboot of this country and maybe a re-install of the OS (Keep democracy, just do it right for once.)