High rate of luggage theft at TIA

TAMPA - Cassandra Alonzo remembers waiting for her checked bag to arrive on the carousel at LaGuardia Airport in New York. She had checked it at Tampa International Airport.

"Right away, I knew something was wrong.  And I looked inside and it was all gone," Alonzo recalled.

Her Christmas gifts and jewelry -- worth thousands of dollars -- were missing, and she’s not alone. Numbers released by the Transportation Security Administration show passengers reported thousands of items were stolen from their checked luggage over the past six years.

America’s biggest airports, like Los Angeles and Chicago-O’Hare, have a far greater number of reported thefts. But we learned Tampa International had more complaints per passenger. A spreadsheet compares TSA data with enplanement records from the FAA.

Here are the per-capita rankings for closed claims filed with the TSA:

1. Palm Beach International
2. New Orleans International
3. Newark International, New Jersey
4. Tampa International
5. Miami International
6. Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International
7. Seattle-Tacoma International
8. San Diego International
9. Southwest Florida International, Fort Myers
10. LaGuardia International, New York
11. Los Angeles International
12. Dulles International, Washington D.C.
13. Orlando International
14. John F. Kennedy International, New York
15. Philadelphia International

Six Florida airports rank in the top 15, with Palm Beach at number one, Tampa at number four, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are at five and six, while Fort Myers came in at number nine and Orlando is 13.

Chief Paul Sireci with Tampa Airport Police told FOX 13 he doesn’t believe Tampa International has a serious problem with thefts from checked luggage. He declined to speak about the rankings and referred us instead to TSA, but he discussed his job and how his department protects the public.

“The concern I have is how many reports are we getting of baggage thefts and how effective are we at solving those cases and how effective are we at reducing those cases,” said Chief Sireci, who said his officers are performing well and cited several solved cases.

In 2008, Tampa Airport Police arrested three baggage handlers and showed off all the electronics and other property recovered. The men pleaded guilty to dealing in stolen property, but were sentenced to just one year of probation.

“I wouldn't check anything anymore after what happened to me,” said Bruce Mitchell, an airline passenger and one of the victims. He lost $9,000 worth of photography equipment he needed for his job. Mitchell flew from Tampa to Hartford on a sales call.

TSA did not want to speak on the record about any of the rankings, but did send the following statement:

TSA takes brief possession of each bag to electronically screen it for explosives in a state-of-the-art in-line system and then we turn it over to the airlines where it is handled by numerous people on its way to and from the aircraft.

Bags that alarm are opened under CCTV and by officers working in teams.
TSA has zero tolerance for theft. Every claim - which is just that - a claim - is investigated. Demonstrating fiscal responsibility for the taxpayers and providing customer service and fairness in the claims process are two duties we take very seriously.

Of the roughly 2 billion passengers who have traveled since TSA assumed responsibility for security checkpoints in 2002, approximately 129,625 have filed claims to date. That is well under one hundredth of one percent.

Bruce Mitchell was reimbursed by the airline for the photography equipment he lost, but in the case of Cassandra Alonzo’s missing Christmas gifts, she never got anything and the case was never solved. Chief Sireci says it's often hard to know who's to blame because a bag passes through many hands from the time a passenger checks it until the time that passenger reaches the final destination and looks inside.

Chief Sireci recommends that passengers pack their valuables in carry-on bags to help prevent theft.