The real D.C. crime wave

[Ptarmigan]

The real D.C. crime wave
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2024/03/28/the-real-d-c-crime-wave-00149591

In a sense, it’s a daring crime given that the aircraft and the individual traveling in its executive cabin are among the most heavily secured entities in the world. And yet, it has become shockingly common — a rite of passage where the thieves proudly discuss and display their stolen goods.

Everyone, it appears, is pilfering from Air Force One.

And it’s gotten so bad that last month, NBC correspondent KELLY O’DONNELL, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, included a terse reminder to colleagues that taking items off the plane was not allowed and reflected poorly on the press corps as a whole, several individuals who saw the off-the-record email confirmed.

The rampant thievery makes sense when you remember that Washington is a town populated by a lot of ambitious, status-seeking dorks. Many people who fly with the president on Air Force One really want you to know they’ve flown on Air Force One.

And sure, a picture that you tweet out may suffice. A tarmac photo of yourself beneath the hulking plane or a certificate from your first flight, which the Air Force will gladly produce and send you by mail, is fine, too.

But what better way to convey your arrival in that stratosphere than with an actual keepsake?

For years, scores of journalists — and others — have quietly stuffed everything from engraved whiskey tumblers to wine glasses to pretty much anything with the Air Force One insignia on it into their bag before stepping off the plane.

Air Force One has a serious theft problem by journalists.