Federal Air Marshals Face A Hostile Work Environment, ABC News Reports

An ABC News report that aired on Tuesday night investigates the apparently crazy world of air marshals.

According to the report, there is a "striking" lack of professionalism within the agency. Current and former air marshals spoke with the news outlet telling them, "Managers at the Federal Air Marshal Service regularly made fun of blacks, Latinos and gays, took taxpayer-paid trips to visit families and vacation spots, and acted like a "bunch of school kid punks."

Former air marshal and "whistleblower" Steve Theodoropoulos spoke with ABC and told them that culture within the agency is "hate African Americans, hate females, go after gays and lesbians cause we don't like the way they think."

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida asked for an investigation into the air marshal program two years ago. He told ABC, "Sooner or later, if you do not have people operating at their peak efficiency, then you take the risk that a terrorist is going to get away with his dirty deed."

The 118-page report, which is to be made public on Thursday, reveals that there is "a great deal of tension, mistrust and dislike between non-supervisory and supervisory personnel in field offices around the country." According to CNN, which also obtained a copy of the report, the investigation reveals that "employees' perceptions of discrimination and retaliation are extensive, and we heard too many negative and conflicting accounts of events to dismiss them."

WATCH ABC News' coverage below.

Comments

[Lisette Valez]

03:12 AM on 03/07/2012

l

[Sliante]

12:18 PM on 02/24/2012

Please, before using Steve as a "reliable" source.... ask him to publicly state why he was terminated. He will not truthfully answer. Ask him about his honesty when it comes to his Greek language skills. His "Whistleblowing" activities only came about after he made serious administrative (non-mission) mistakes and was let go. His agenda is more about sour grapes than "protecting the public". And no, I'm not a manager.

[true-american]

04:05 PM on 02/13/2012

THE MEDIA IS ALWAYS RIGHT? CORRECT?
I am amazed at how many people have ignored the facts in this article. The FAMS are not the ones to blame here, its the fomer SS (Secret Service) goons that run the agency and have never been on FAMS mission status before and are trying to run this new agency like theirs of yore. The FAMS that I know either thru Military affiliation or shooting competetively, are the most disciplined, hardcore, combat experienced people in the world!!! How many of you are Green Berets, Rangers, Marine Recon, Navy SEALS or AF PJ's???? How many of you have Silver Stars, Navy Crosses, Bronze Stars or Purple Hearts????? Go look up the physical standards, physical fitness standards, and shooting qualifications. Pass all of those and come back here and rip them all you want, but most of you can't do one sit up to get off the couch to get more chips, never mind face the worst possible senario any law enforcment officer would want too and thats the truth.
God Bless the Federal Air Marshals and the Freedom they provide all of us!!!!

[Sliante]

12:09 PM on 02/24/2012

I agree. Why doesn't the media ask Theo why he was let go from the service?

[true-american]

03:44 PM on 02/13/2012

wow

[one1byke]

07:02 AM on 02/10/2012

HOW?! is this article about the dilemma of the Marshals?? How about the Public?!

[gnuz69]

08:15 PM on 02/09/2012

Wow

[Jay Love]

07:18 AM on 02/09/2012

All this and more happening under the watch of Obama and Ms. Janet Napoliatono the head of Homeland Security, (who also wants us to believe we have no border problem either) these problems need to be fixed from the TOP down...and as for Sen. Bill Nelso of Florida he is about as clueless a senator and person as anyone out there?

[NancyY]

06:08 AM on 02/09/2012

I don't normally type in all caps, but I will say here, THANK YOU MR. THEODOROPOLOUS, FOR BRINGING THIS TO OUR ATTENTION!!!

The sleeping Air Marshall was especially scary - yes, anyone could have grabbed his gun and try to take over the plane. And the 'Jeopardy' game with the negative connotations wasn't decent at all, either. I am a woman, and reasonably good at marksmanship. There is no reason why women of whatever mindset should be treated as less able to perform their duties in such a capacity as the men.

[Sliante]

12:21 PM on 02/24/2012

The "jeopardy board" was the stupidity of three people. They had NO say in the performance ratings or scheduling of FAMs. Steve knew about the board years before he broke the law and was fired. Only after he was fired did he suddenly become offended and turn whistleblower. There are a couple of TSA Whistleblowers who I FULLY support. Their revelations and actions have increased the safety of the public. Steve has not.

[sallyanncohen]

06:02 AM on 02/09/2012

Once again ABC News sinks to its lowest level -- where are the facts? I know several air marshals and they are extremely professional...I think that all business and govt.run agencies and depts. all have some who may fit the descriptions in this article. Air marshals must be tough and they have extensive training -- we need them with all the left's political correctness....and if we had a system like Israel's we would be far ahead in stopping terrorists---their system works.

[Major Nikon]

05:44 PM on 02/09/2012

They are reporting on what the IG report said, genius. So ABC News shouldn't report facts and quote an official report? Tune back into talk radio so you can learn about the world through your wingnut filter.

[Sliante]

12:25 PM on 02/24/2012

No.... the IG report (I've read it) has stated what the problems are and suggested the solutions. The FAMS response (I've read it) has outlined 12 recommendations to "fix" the problems. ABC News has reported what a few disgruntled people have said and turned it into an "endemic problem". Do yourself a favor and find out why the "expert", Steve Theodoropolus is no longer an Air Marshal and then see if you really trust his statements. I am very aware of the facts, you need to do some digging yourself.

[msw1994]

03:22 PM on 02/10/2012

My son has been an FAM for a number of years. The article is "spot on".

[Sliante]

12:28 PM on 02/24/2012

Really? I seriously doubt it. Most of the rank and file have gripes about the management, as does ALMOST EVERY WORKER IN EVERY PROFESSION IN THE WORLD. But 99% disagree with this article.

[Lisa Tomlin]

05:29 AM on 02/09/2012

Why does this surprise people. This has been going on for a long time.

[slidingdoors18]

05:11 AM on 02/09/2012

Of ALL the things we have outsourced, I cannot figure out why we haven't outsourced our TSA training to the Israelis. They really have their act together and some of the bozos I've seen at airports could use a few lessons. That goes for you Marshals as well!

[gnuz69]

05:01 AM on 02/09/2012

The elements of reversal affect are shocking. Do not think these people are getting away with anything. They can’t go home after a bashing day and park their brains by the front door like a pair of dirty old work boots and forget about what happened in the course of the day. Neither can they park their brains in the garage, slam the door behind them and enter in the house as if nothing awful has happened in the course of the day. Belief me torture is waiting for them in the bathroom and in the bedroom. These people are miserable and should be. They can’t say, hey, buddy or sweetie, daddy loves you. They can’t leave the house in the morning, wishing their family wellness and security. Why? Because, they can’t be a hatemonger one minute and a normal being the next. Really?..... really. The elements are cruel. It will come back to hurt you! The reversal affects can beat and torture like no man can. It will torture a hatemonger. Bitterness comes out of their mouth and drools down the side of their mouths to become venom to their own mind and soul. Bitter and sweet can not come out of the same fountain. They can't embrace their soul mate and say “I love you”. Where is this love coming from? Don’t worry these hate bashers are miserable. They will soon destroy themselves. The elements of reversal affect are like Murphy’s Law …. IT WILL BE BACK!!!

[NancyY]

07:48 PM on 02/24/2012

I beg to differ with you. There is evil in this world, and some people embrace it. They are only stopped when individuals expose their mess and force them to stand down and/or abdicate their positions, especially positions of authority. I know this; I am one of those people who has stood up to such jerks in the past, because in a few workplaces things got so bad that I decided I had to take a stand against the bad behavior even at the risk of losing my job.

[eveofmoonlight]

04:49 AM on 02/09/2012

And people don't believe me when I say racism and sexism still exists in the workforce....it's just quiet and uses bs excuses to shaft a person even though the real reason is the racism and sexism.....-__-........naive people are so cute and clueless.

[Mike Davis 747]

04:28 AM on 02/09/2012

These are the results you can expect when the government hires thousands of people to be police without the proper training. It would have been better if the government slowed the hiring, tried to select the best candidates and then trained them properly.

[patsunikbutik]

04:53 AM on 02/09/2012

So VERY TRUE !

[Sliante]

12:33 PM on 02/24/2012

Really? Without the proper training? Do you have any idea, first of all, what the proper training should've been? Have you ever been involved in Police, Military or Security training? Secondly, how do you know if they received the "proper" training or not. How do you know if the training has remained static or if the training has evolved over the last 10 years? Either you have no possible way of knowing or you're expressing sour grapes because you weren't hired. Which one is it?

[revancha101]

04:28 AM on 02/09/2012

Maybe it is time to do what Reagan did with the air traffic controllers -- fire all of them and hire a whole new group.