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EMPLOYEE THEFT from PASSENGERS at U.S. AIRPORTS: an ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINOLOGY PERSPECTIVE by Nerea Marteache Solans © 2012

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EMPLOYEE THEFT from PASSENGERS at U.S. AIRPORTS: an ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINOLOGY PERSPECTIVE by Nerea Marteache Solans © 2012 EMPLOYEE THEFT FROM PASSENGERS AT U.S. AIRPORTS: AN ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINOLOGY PERSPECTIVE By Nerea Marteache Solans © 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School – Newark Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Criminal Justice Written under the direction of Dr. Ronald V. Clarke and approved by _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Newark, New Jersey January, 2013 Abstract Employee Theft from Passengers at U.S. Airports: An Environmental Criminology Perspective By Nerea Marteache Solans Dissertation Chair: Ronald V. Clarke After 9/11 a number of security measures were implemented at U.S. airports, which included the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the mandate to scan all air passengers and their luggage, and the prohibition for passengers to lock their suitcases with any system other than TSA approved locks. Some of those measures have opened up opportunities for employees to steal from passengers’ luggage. This dissertation uses an environmental criminology perspective to examine why some U.S. airports experience more employee theft from passengers than others. Given the lack of previous research, it is necessary to analyze first the prevalence of this crime at U.S. airports, which airports experience more theft of this kind, and whether theft concentrates mostly in a few airports. Then, the features associated with an increased risk of employee theft at each airport are examined using bivariate and multivariate analyses. The unit of analysis is the airport. Theft rates calculated using data of claims from passengers against the TSA are used as dependent variables. Two subtypes of theft are studied: theft at the security checkpoint, and theft from checked-in luggage. Findings show that theft rates are very low. No pattern of concentration is found when analyzing large and medium airports. While theft at checkpoint is very homogeneous ii across airports, variation in the opportunities provided by different checked baggage inspection systems allows for some concentration of theft in smaller airports. Results suggest that passengers’ packing practices and airlines’ baggage handling systems can also facilitate opportunities for theft from checked luggage. Further research is needed to unpack these findings. This research proves that there are exceptions to “The Iron Law of Troublesome Places” (Wilcox and Eck, 2011): standardized strict antiterrorist measures have the beneficial side effect of reducing theft risk and ironing out large differences in theft risk among airports. From a practical perspective, this study shows that there are more opportunities for theft at smaller airports. Considering that individuals involved in employee theft are often involved in other crimes as well, smaller airports could constitute vulnerable points of entry into the aviation industry in this country. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................ xi 1. The commercial aviation industry ........................................................................... 1 1.1. Civil aviation, regulators, airports and airlines ................................................... 1 1.2. Commercial aviation in the U.S. in the 21st century ........................................... 9 Chapter summary .......................................................................................................... 14 2. The problem of luggage theft by employees at airports ...................................... 15 2.1. Theft OF luggage vs. theft FROM luggage ...................................................... 15 2.2. Passenger and baggage screening at airports .................................................... 21 2.2.1. The passenger security screening checkpoint ........................................... 22 2.2.2. Checked baggage handling process and inspection system ...................... 29 Chapter summary .......................................................................................................... 36 3. Literature review..................................................................................................... 37 3.1. Theft at airports ................................................................................................. 37 3.1.1. Theft from passengers at airports .............................................................. 37 3.1.2. Cargo theft at airports ............................................................................... 39 3.2. Employee theft .................................................................................................. 41 iv 3.2.1. Definition and classification of employee theft within the white-collar crime literature .......................................................................................................... 41 3.2.2. Prevalence of employee theft .................................................................... 47 3.2.3. Theories that explain employee theft ........................................................ 49 3.2.4. Occupations, work relations and opportunity for crime ........................... 51 Chapter summary .......................................................................................................... 55 4. Theoretical framework ........................................................................................... 56 4.1. Broader theoretical framework: Environmental Criminology .......................... 56 4.1.1. Routine Activity Theory ........................................................................... 58 4.1.2. Rational Choice Perspective ..................................................................... 59 4.2. Risky Facilities.................................................................................................. 61 4.3. Choice-Structuring Properties ........................................................................... 65 Chapter summary .......................................................................................................... 70 5. Research design ....................................................................................................... 71 5.1. Overview of research design ............................................................................. 71 5.2. Dependent variables: number of thefts and theft rates from checked baggage and at checkpoint in 2009 ............................................................................................. 72 5.2.1. Limitations of the TSA Claims Database ................................................. 78 Chapter summary .......................................................................................................... 81 6. Airports as risky facilities....................................................................................... 82 6.1. Hypotheses RQ1 ............................................................................................... 82 v 6.2. Variables and data sources RQ1 ....................................................................... 84 6.3. Analyses and results RQ1 ................................................................................. 86 6.3.1. Describing theft from passengers’ luggage............................................... 86 6.3.2. Do most of the thefts concentrate in just a few airports? .......................... 94 6.3.3. Identifying risky airports using theft rates .............................................. 101 6.3.4. Comparing 2008 and 2009 theft rates ..................................................... 107 6.3.5. Theft rate from checked baggage vs. theft rate at checkpoint ................ 110 6.4. Summary and discussion of findings RQ1...................................................... 114 7. What makes airports risky? ................................................................................. 124 7.1. Hypotheses RQ2 ............................................................................................. 126 7.2. Variables and data sources RQ2 ..................................................................... 129 7.3. Analyses and results RQ2 ............................................................................... 136 7.3.1. Determining normality of data of the dependent variables ..................... 137 7.3.2. Bivariate analyses ................................................................................... 138 7.3.3. Multivariate analyses .............................................................................. 140 7.4. Summary and discussion of findings RQ2...................................................... 142 8. Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 145 8.1. Implications of this research ..........................................................................
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