Probation

As W. C. Fields allegedly said on his gravestone:
"I'd rather be here than in Philadelphia."

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A 37-year-old former Transportation Security Administration officer has been sentenced to three years’ probation for stealing laptop computers from passengers’ luggage at Philadelphia International Airport.

Federal prosecutor Arlene Fisk says defendant Troy Davis, upset about a demotion and lost pay, admitted stealing five laptops and a Sony Playstation.

Fisk says Davis actually used the surveillance equipment for his own greedy purpose.

“He put the luggage through special machines to see whether there was any explosives or anything of concern in the luggage,” she told KYW Newsradio. “When he saw that there was something of value in the luggage, he took out the computers or the games.”

Judge C. Darnell Jones says he considered the defendant’s military service — the US Navy veteran served in Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, and in Somalia. And Davis is still recovering from injuries from a near-fatal car wreck a year ago.

“Quite frankly,” Judge Jones told the defendant, “that is what kept you out of jail, because I was determined to put you there. As I indicated before, if you violate this court’s probation, I can assure you this will not keep you out.”

Davis is married with six children.

Reported by Tony Hanson, KYW Newsradio 1060.

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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

"Who will guard the guards?"

Three years probation?

Seems to me that there should be a higher standard and harsher punishment for people in positions of authority or trust who use that position to victimize the people they are supposed to be protecting.

If Joe Shit the ragman stole my laptop while I wasn't watching it, that's one thing. When a law enforcement officer, which includes one of these pathetic TSA rent-a-thugs, uses government equipment to spot my PC and uses the distraction of a search to divert my attention away from my PC so he can steal it, that's something very different. It borders on official oppression.

The judge who handed down the probation instead of a real sentence should be placed on probation himself while he is audited to see if he is soft on crime. A crime-ridden cess-pool like Philadelphia can not afford to have a judge who practices "catch and release".