Video: TSA missing thousands of jackets and badges

WAOI has the video report here.

Disturbing new evidence reveals a threat to our homeland security is worse than originally thought.

The News Four WOAI Trouble Shooters first uncovered records last May showing 1400 airport security badges and uniforms are missing from airports here and across the country.

Now, new information obtained by Trouble Shooter Brian Collister shows a dramatic increase in the total number.

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Now, we’ve received new records revealing the number of missing badges and uniforms has more than doubled and is now at 3719.

After our initial investigation, a source within TSA told us agency officials sent out an email urgently asking every airport security director to immediately report any missing items they have not already reported to TSA headquarters.

I’m sure they’ll all get right on that.

It gets worse:

Congressman Lamar Smith spoke with the Trouble Shooters about the problem during a recent visit to his office on the North Side of San Antonio. Smith sits on the Homeland Security Committee and did not know the problem was getting worse until we showed him the new information. That’s because TSA sent him a letter in August claiming the numbers were much lower. In that letter, Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley told the Congressman that TSA did not have any idea of the number of missing uniforms and that only 1375 ID badges were reported missing. That’s not true. TSA had the larger numbers in May, nearly four months before they sent the letter to Smith.

Congressman Smith believes they’re withholding information that he feels is absolutely critical to our national security.

“We have to do better or, frankly, they’ll bear some responsibility if there is some kind of misuse of those badges and uniforms,” Smith said.

TSA takes a bum rap for lots of things that are beyond its and its ground personnel’s control, but this is unacceptable.

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