Slashdot Mirror
Off-Duty Police Officer Steals iPad From TSA Checkpoint
SpaceCadetTrav writes "A recent arrest report shows that an off-duty police officer from Fullerton, CA was arrested on felony grand theft charges for stealing an iPad at a TSA checkpoint in the Miami International Airport. The theft was captured on video surveillance last month and the officer was tracked down just before boarding her plane."
Looks like she thought she was employed by the TSA.
HA HA.
stuff that matters
*sigh*
No surprise. Cops are people too, with all the usual failings.
At least this bad cop was arrested instead of "protecting their own", but let's see how he is prosecuted.
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
I read the arresting officer's police report via the link. In case you don't intend to (it's kind of boring), I think the highlight is the statement that upon seeing the IPad in the TSA bin, that she placed her bag of chicken over it. Aside from that, I guess any story with the word "IPad" and a photo of Steve Jobs is sure to be interesting to someone. So off-duty-police crime + IPad and Steve Jobs + Bag of Chicken is the combination that makes this story "interesting".
Gently reply
If the item in question the officer allegedly stole was anything other than an iPad, would this story have been posted to slashdot?
Come on, it was a police officer stealing something at an airline checkpoint. Yes of course that would have been on Slashdot, lots of people here have a fundamental distrust of law enforcement and an (admittedly earned) burning hatred of airport security lines designed to separate you from your belongings.
My real question is why the hell anyone making $86k/year would risk throwing everything away to steal something she could have easily bought? She has problems I think beyond just one theft.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
So this time a watchman...
(puts on the glasses) ..was watched.
YEEEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
You'd have to be mentally defective to steal at an airport. They're the most tightly secured and monitored civilian areas.
Well, it is SORT OF news since it wasn't the TSA stealing, this time.
I'm inclined to believe that iPads are overpriced, but not to the extent that stealing one should qualify as grand theft. Did the owner have the "I Am Rich" app installed, or what am I missing?
Insert self-referential sig here.
There has got to be an idea for a game in there somewhere.
They'll probably just arrest the entire Miami TSA force for videotaping a police officer.
Is this one of those places where we can expect to see the airport prosecuted for filming a police officer?
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
News yes, front page news, no.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
While checking through at the airport a few months back I was going through the standard scans. After placing my items in the bins (o so many bins, damn you electronic devices) I'm left to stand while they take a peek at my penis (to determine if it's worthy of flight).
The agent nearby asks me to keep an eye on my items as they pass through. I suppose if I'm busy watching my things they are free to do other things (like giggle at my pictures). I thought it was kinda odd because who in the right mind would dare defy the TSA under their noses. Still, nearly 20 seconds after the agent mentions me watching my belongings some chick snatches my ipad out of the bin and proceeds to start to walk off. Unfortunately, I can't leave my position of shame and I keep raising my voice while repeatedly saying, "HEY LADY, THAT IS MY IPAD." Eventually, when about 3 or 4 people are staring her down she sets in back in the bin and states she thought it was hers. Ignoring the fact that it was crammed between three other bins that had my possessions and I don't recall her actually picking up an ipad from her newly radioactive items.
In the end, I kept my things and the TSA laughed at my penis some more. Still, it's quite frightening how easy it really is to both nab someones things and then write off what you were attempting.
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
This is really the only argument that ever need to be voiced when arguing against laws that make it illegal to record police in public:
Who are Police? They are people. Some people do wrong things sometimes. Thus, some police break the law. Making it illegal for others to record the police only makes illegal behavior by corrupt police easier.
In this instance the officer was not on duty, but it shows that just because you are employed as a Police officer or Government agent doesn't mean your morals are always intact.
and cover for each other. According to a local Atlanta radio host he watched as one of the officers took an iPod and other items then left the area. When he tried to confront them they said he had gone home or such. In other words, if they want stuff they know to cover each other and intimidate the flying public with arrest.
http://mydailykona.blogspot.com/2011/06/tsa-stealing-from-passengers.html
http://www.examiner.com/headlines-in-new-york/former-tsa-supervisor-at-newark-jailed-for-stealing-from-passengers
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Fullerton Police Patrol Officer Kelly Mejia used the well-known stealing technique of placing a bag (in this case, a bag of chicken) http://www.fullertonsfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Mejia-Arrest.pdf over the item and then removing both. People steal cell phones using this method all the time. It happened to me on a bus in Kansas City, MO.
Kelly Mejia makes 86K$US/year and has been an patrol officer for 6 years. When confronted about the pad, she said she was going to keep it.
I have found that most people on the internet assume police are honest, and people are going to say this officer was just the unusual bad apple. The opposite is true. If a person is a cop, the person is a lier and a thief. This officer was so used to stealing she assumed she was going to get away with it (because she was a cop) and was indignant when confronted.
What's actually amazing about this story is that the fellow officers chose to arrest her. She must have done or said something to anger them.
I'm taking bets. I say she doesn't do a day in jail.
(||) Nehmo (||)
Criminal was white. Blonde.
Her photo is at http://www.csub.edu/bas/staff/2008_0117StaffCoffee/2008STAFFCOFFEEjan17_text.shtml
http://travelunderground.org/index.php?threads/list-of-tsa-crime-stories-since-december-2010-part-1.127/
http://travelunderground.org/index.php?threads/list-of-tsa-crime-stories-since-december-2010-part-2.128/
Granted this one wasn't actually committed by a TSO but as was mentioned above, airport security checkpoints are prime locations for theft because many seem (or are) deliberately designed to separate you from your belongings.
Tip: You are NOT required to use a TSA-friendly lock to lock your carry-on bag. Keep your valuables inside your bag as it goes through the X-ray and lock it with a secure, TSA-unfriendly lock. If you want to take your laptop out as they insist you have to (many have said they've left the laptop in the bag and the TSA troglodytes haven't said anything about it), lock it to your bag handle with a Kensington locking cable. These steps will help ensure that you're there to watch them if they claim to need to look through your belongings. It also helps prevent them from trying to force you into a private room for a gropedown by picking your bags up and walking off with them.
And yeah, this is a shameless plug, but the site in my sig is a good resource for tracking TSA civil-rights abuses and coordinating political action to fight back against them. There's good advice to be had for putting TSOs in their place at the checkpoint too.
Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
http://www.tsanewsblog.com
Wrong, Internet sleuth. The Kelly Mejia in the article is only 25 years old.
http://www.ratemycop.com/index.php?st=CA&dept=13791
I don't give a damn whether or not they snicker. They are still violating my personal sovereignty for no damn good reason. Those scanners do not protect us from terrorism, and methods exist that are cheaper, more effective, and less invasive.
They can hate their jobs all they want...so long as those body scanners are there I refuse to fly.
How ironic! I just started reading "The Conservative Assault on the Constitution" by Erwin Chrminsky (http://goo.gl/iCO5p). In his introduction, Cherminsky writes about his frustrated effort to get a new sentence for people sentenced effectively to life in prison in California for petty theft as a consequence of the "Three Strikes" law. Most of those convicted this way are Black and Latino. The Supreme Court consistently upholds these convictions in 5-4 majorities despite the clear violation of the Eight Amendment. This gal will probably get a slap on the wrist, then she'll agree to "get help" or she'll go to work for a security firm.
I guess for me, the real shock is a cop can earn that much money. Even in California this figure is quite generous for someone with possibly an Associates degree (guessing, as most cops are in this range) and some time at a local academy (also normally hosted by community colleges).
There are people a lot better educated and arguably more productive to society making about that figure.
-- Posted from my parent's basement
I was pulled over by a Sheriff and we got to talking (he didn't give me a ticket, just got a warning) and he mentioned he makes 150k w/OT. Keep in mind, that when he retires he'll get a pension based on his salary....
It wasn't a simple theft, it was a Grand Theft. You know, because Apple products are Grand.
PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
...every time some Apple device somewhere gets stolen by someone, Slashdot has to create a story about it.
And some people on here have the audacity to wonder why we non-fanbois hate Apple so much - it's like a badly spoilt child constantly craving your attention and something from you....
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
It's rather unclear in the form if this is fraud and/or gang related. Are those tick boxes? They have both yes/no tick boxes and a box in which something that could be an "N" filled in. Whoever made this form, should be sent on a training.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
...I'm not confident the people they hire to run those checkpoints are fully up to speed.
I agree. We must also remember that agents may push the boundaries to enhance their image. Then when they are called to task, they cite a gap in training. Always assume malice. Errors are a gift.
Copyright Video 1
...Cops are people too, with all the usual failings.
I disagree. Quality officers are supposed to be beyond the *usual* failings. It is quite clear than an officer who absconds with something feels differently about it than a civilian. The difference flows from their duty to honor. Low level officers who cannot maintain their duty are indeed people, sometimes nearing the limits of their capacity.
Copyright Video 1
Is there any chance we are missing the type of mistake involved? We agree that the income should be sufficient and the officer should have known of the cameras. To me this points towards a psychological error. However it is unclear to me whether it is an error of deriving sensual excitement hoping to elude the cameras, or a subconscious gesture of despair by expecting to be caught.
Copyright Video 1
How stupid doe she have to be to be a cop and try to steal something in the single area, which is not only probably videotaped, but the best videotaped area for sure, with the best cameras, and where videotapes will be definitely kept for some time?
Twice I've had my car searched by police. They asked permission, I said no. They said by me saying no that they had probable cause. I don't do drugs, there was nothing illegal in the car. It was a waste of their time bringing out the dogs and all the other cop cars that have to stop to gawk.
Say no does no good.
Well, if everyone said "no", they might be more selective on who they wasted their time on bringing out the dogs, etc.
I also doubt very much if refusal for permission to search is actually considered "probable cause" in most cases. If so, it would result in completely removing any protections against unreasonable search by the mere application of the magic words "May I search that?" There are many legitimate reasons for not wanting a search to be performed beyond not wanting the police to find incriminating evidence.
Kelly Mejia has been working with the Fullerton Police Department for at least six years and earns about $86,000 per year as a patrol officer
What? Holy crap batman. I have no problem with cops getting paid, but $86k for a PATROL OFFICER? Wow... Guess that iPad was worth it, eh? Lol.
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A coworker's brother in law was Minnesota Highway Patrol. According to him, "there're very few people out there gunning for a cop, but there're a lot of BAD DRIVERS out there." I would take that as a confirmation...
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
They are not "people" and have not been since 9/10, once 9/11 hit they are all "heroes".
I'll just get my coat and be on my way ;)
Mandated that the TSA hire fellony convicted sex offenders to "MAN" the airport security check-points?
Money?
Sexual Orientation?
Pervision?
Hatrad of the United States of America!
--
From you post I just know you have a very small penis. Same as all racists scum.
Cops don't make a killing (till they get their bribes rolling or get promoted high enough!) but stealing an ipad from the TSA at an airport is just plain brainless.
Stealing in an airport INVITES capture in this day and age, with so many "eyes in the sky" there now, it seems crooked cops are of even lower caliber today as officer intellectual superstar demonstrated with this instance of petty larceny.
Most Police Officers response (as well as many powerful members of our society) when caught in the act is to deny, minimize and ultimately circumvent punishment, which is not just unbecoming it is reprehensible. Thankfully someone ensured that justice was served up this time.
On another note, (feel free to stop reading if police give you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside!) I find most people in general to be blinded by the prevailing mindless correlation of how "heroic" police are because of their choice of employment. Their work, for the most part, is admirable but not "heroic" as I see ordinary people take greater risks for others than police everyday. I also find nothing more deserving of general respect than the most under-appreciated member of our society: the lowly volunteer (aka people who actually give a shit about society).
At hospitals and foster homes you will find that volunteers try harder than your average cop does in a shift. There are some cops who break the mold and lend a hand but most prefer to take pride in themselves.
I believe that the time is approaching where the better part of society will eventually assert itself, although not without some form of violence beforehand as history has consistently shown.
Rant end.
And was there a strip search involved that involved video?
What, that would be 10X more entertaining than the government ripping itself off.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
That's the general idea, yes.