2010-02-16 CNN
Big funding, little results. Bosses playing games. Workers filing complaints, and the Air Marshals, well, the service was established to look after you, but apparently, it can't even take care of itself. CNN's Drew Griffin investigates.
Kyra, the widespread allegations of discriminations are so bad that members of Congress are demanding to have a DHS, the Department of Homeland Security Investigation of this for fear that this is affecting the very security mission these Air Marshals are assigned.
The Federal Air Marshal's mission, protect America's commercial aircraft from future terrorist attacks.
Sit down.
With a nearly $1 billion budget, how many attempted terrorist attacks have the federal air marshals foiled -- none that we've been told about. They did shoot and kill one man, a person at Miami's airport with mental health issues who claimed to have a bomb in a backpack, as far as arresting terrorists or anyone else?
I have the statistics for last year, that they've made four arrests for an appropriation of over $800 million. It came out to more than $200 million per arrest. It's just ridiculous.
So what's going wrong? Air marshals, CNN talked to, for this story describe a federal agency in chaos where bored and frustrated air marshals focus more on internal squabbles than watching for bad guys. The marshals asked we not show their faces.
We don't have managers that provide training or provide leadership or do anything other than produce conflict.
How can you say you're protecting the public when you're playing games?
Look at this dry erase board in an air marshal's office in Orlando, Florida. CNN was told managers use the board to keep track of how many minority air marshals had been disciplined. Employees told CNN managers were awarding each other scores for their harassment activities.
The Transportation Security Administration says it's investigating and that all employees are entitled to be treated in a fair and lawful manner. But Orlando is not the only example. All over the country from Las Vegas to Seattle to Cincinnati, air marshals have filed official complaints, claiming age, gender and racial discrimination.
In Cincinnati alone, 20 percent of the office filed complaints, according to their lawyer. Six marshals say they were then retaliated against in the workplace with undesirable assignments. Managers allegedly spent nine months at an unknown cost to taxpayers investigating whether one female air marshal had her car registered in the proper state.