Fly the stolen skies

AS IF TODAY'S AIR TRAVELERS don't have enough to worry about -- whether it's terrorists or just making damn sure not to pack unlawfully large amounts of shampoo and toothpaste -- an examination of government reports reveals another headache for those flying into Sin City.

The hotel-casinos that target tourists and their cash might have built Las Vegas into America's No. 1 vacation mecca, but recent Transportation Security Administration figures reveal thieves are also eyeing the money-laden travelers who pass through McCarran International Airport each year.

McCarran is the nation's fifth busiest airport according to the Federal Aviation Administration, but it also ranks high for a more dubious honor: From 2003 to 2006, McCarran passengers filed 1,466 reports for damaged or stolen items -- the seventh highest rate among the nation's 10 busiest airports -- worth $1,163,172.13 in claims. As we approach the six-year anniversary of ramped up airport security, McCarran's high ranking for damaged and stolen goods is worth considering.

Surely, airport and local leaders want tourists' first impressions of Vegas to be positive -- McCarran is the city's welcome mat for most new arrivals here -- but officials say theft from passengers is both a top priority -- and an old problem.

"Theft from bags didn't start with us," says TSA Spokesman Nico Melendez. "Our people have to meet high standards, have high levels of training and have to go through multiple background checks. We have a zero-tolerance policy and do not want those people in our workforce."

But someone's sticky fingers are at play, according to an analysis of more than 40,000 damage, loss and theft reports filed with the TSA. While McCarran lands the No. 7 spot in the total number of such incidents nationwide, the local airport ranks No. 2 for per-claim dollar value ($793.43) and No. 3 for the total dollar value of all claims among the country's busiest airports.

Rosemary Vassiliadis, deputy director for the Clark County Department of Aviation, worries about these TSA figures and says McCarran officials take the security of passengers and their belongings seriously. "Any theft concerns us, and we've been very aggressive at theft. Theft isn't new because the TSA is here ... it's always been a concern."

Vassiliadis says that airport officials screen, train and monitor the roughly 18,000 people who work at McCarran, about 1,000 of whom are TSA employees. Employees, most of whom are subcontracted with the more than 30 airlines at McCarran, submit to background checks with both the TSA and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, are trained by their respective employers and undergo airport-specific instruction that spells out McCarran's zero tolerance for stealing. In addition, she says, airport officials and Metro officers at an airport substation constantly monitor potential thieves.

But Vassiliadis' explanation of how many airport workers handle checked luggage raises questions about whose eyes (and hands) roam over passengers' bags. From the airline gate agents who check travelers' suitcases to the TSA screeners who poke through luggage to the baggage handlers working in the bowels of McCarran, checked luggage is groped more often than a Vegas stripper. But both Vassiliadis and the TSA's Melendez point to what they call extensive security measures designed to safeguard passengers' prized possessions.

"At this airport, we deal very aggressively [with theft]," says Vassiliadis. "We have a camera system in the back ... and have expanded it tremendously at our expense." Vassiliadis says the airport also employs teams of "watchers" who continuously pore over banks of video screens to ensure no worker pilfers any of the checked baggage. If an airport employee is caught stealing, she says, "they're immediately taken out of the system, and they're fired."

In addition to airport safeguards, Melendez says his agency uses a "two-person integrity system" who works together and additional TSA supervisors who patrol baggage areas to actively deter theft. "We're in a position of public trust," he says. Of the 100,000 people the TSA has employed since folding into the department of Homeland Security in early 2003, Melendez says less than one half of 1 percent have been fired for stealing -- with just one of those at McCarran. "We take the necessary steps to get those people out of our workforce," he says.

The last couple of years have been turbulent for TSA and airport security workers nationwide. Government undercover operatives were able to smuggle guns and bomb components through security checkpoints in late 2006 and this July as much as 90 percent of the time. And a TSA sting operation at McCarran in the summer of 2006 led to the arrest of two airport employees for stealing guns -- including two automatic machine guns -- from the checked bags of servicemen on their way to Iraq.

While the TSA reports don't point to any stolen weapons, they do show the majority of damaged and stolen items here was electronics, clothing and jewelry.

"People tend to bring things to Las Vegas that they probably wouldn't bring on other vacations," says Vassiliadis. "I would imaging that people would bring a little more 'bling-bling' here than they do [elsewhere]."

That's possible, says UNLV public administration professor William Thompson. In his opinion, the numbers reflect tourists wanting to avoid embarrassment if they lose prized possessions -- or pawn them to feed gambling habits. "Historically, we've had a very high reporting of room theft here, much higher than in other places. This could be a similar thing, for people to save face. But another reason could be that the recruiting of airport employees is local and more lax. There could be this false fear that they don't want to profile people so they don't check them out thoroughly."

Regardless of why the TSA and McCarran must now deal with a high number of passenger damage and theft reports -- of which Melendez says the TSA has resolved more than 96 percent - security officials say passenger and baggage security is soaring at an all-time high. "The TSA is made up of professionals," he says. "And they're overwhelmingly committed to the safety of the transportation system."