Michael Grabell, reporting for ProPublica.org has a fantastic piece in USA Today on air marshal insanity: Crimes by Air Marshals Raise Questions About Hiring.

It's Fantastic the way "Bad Lieutenant" was fantastic. Remember that movie starring Harvey Keitel? But of course that was a Hollywood film and this is real.

Never mind how troublesome it is that "since 9/11, more than three dozen federal air marshals have been charged with crimes, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct." It's the personal-touch stories that are so appalling: 

[Air marshal David] Slaughter was convicted of abducting a female escort during a July 2006 layover in the Washington, D.C., area. In an interview, he said he hired the escort because he was having marital problems and wanted a woman's perspective. As they talked about how to spend their time, he went into the bedroom of his hotel suite and returned with his gun and handcuffs. The woman tried to flee, but he prevented her from leaving and unplugged the phone, prosecutors said.

The two struggled, and when the woman got the door open, Slaughter pinned her to the ground, held her in a chokehold and handcuffed her, according to prosecutors and the woman, Cherith Zorbas. 

Or how about air marshal Brian "Cooter" Phelps, who wanted his ex-wife to disappear:

In 2005, Phelps, known as "Cooter" among fellow air marshals, told a colleague that he wanted to see his wife's picture on a milk carton, court transcripts say. He asked the air marshal, who'd worked in Chicago's housing projects, whether he knew of anyone who could help.

The colleague said he did: The Crucifixer. The colleague told the Air Marshal Service, and after numerous contacts with FBI agents posing as hit men, Phelps was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Or air marshal McGowan?

Michael McGowan used his position as an air marshal to lure a young boy to his hotel room, where he showed him child porn, took pictures of him naked and sexually abused him.

It goes on and on…

The Federal Air Marshal Service issued a silly denial (surprise). But far more serious (for them) is the fact that behind the scenes, the story is getting long legs. I have been privy to a slew of emails going back and forth among air marshals and also emails among pilots.

No doubt, Grabell's story has done a great service to the flying public. It has reignited the fire among Air Marshals and pilots who have stories too. But their stories are also about the conduct of Air Marshal brass — notoriously swept under the rug and kept out of the public eye.

The real problem — and everyone who reports on the Air Marshal Service knows this — is the management. Leadership starts at the top and goes down. The secretive Air Marshal Service, overseen by the equally draconian TSA, has been riddled by scandals since day one. Corruption, mismanagement and abuse of power often appear to be the very principles on which the agency runs.

I've written countless articles and so have others. Nothing has changed. Not yet. The power lies in the pen, people. Call your local journalist now. (anniejacobsen@mac.com)

In an Air Marshal dialogue I was privy to, one Air Marshal writes: 

This article was just preparation of a greater [article] to come. [One that will] expose how often corrupt FAMs and TSA employees have committed crimes AND KEPT THEIR JOBS, while at the  same time the Agency went after whistleblowers with impunity, and  fired them. This article just broke the ice. 

And a pilot shared this pilot circular with me which is being passed around under the heading, "This Week's Security Horror Story:" 

But now think about what is required for a Federal Air Marshal to take a loaded pistol into the passenger compartment of a plane, and possibly to make a shoot/don't shoot decision in a cabin full of passengers:  These days, the Homeland Security Department will recruit pretty much anyone off the street, no matter what their background, and even if they have no prior law enforcement experience.

P. Jeffrey Black, a Las Vegas air marshal who in the past has testified before Congress about agency policies told Grabell, "These are highly trained federal air marshals with guns on planes. If they need chaperones, then we're all in serious trouble." 

Any good news in all of this? But of course. Once the new administration takes charge, several key whistleblowers inside the agency plan on coming forward.

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