Anyone who is old enough and was at least in the Munich underground in the 1980s knows that there were once black sheriffs there. These were employees of a private security service who were supposed to ensure law and order in the Munich subway. However, many of them misinterpreted their task, so that innocent passengers did not feel reassured as soon as they saw them. Rather, if there was anyone to be afraid of when using the Munich subways in those years, it was primarily these black sheriffs. They were often self-important, rowdy and sometimes aggressive.
The founder of this security service had, and he was clearly proud of it, copied some things from the USA, including the uniforms of his troop of thugs. And he may have also discovered role models in the United States for the martial and sometimes harassing behavior of his black sheriffs, which sometimes even culminated in criminal law. There seems to be a line of tradition in the USA that extends to the present day.
At least the American air or sky marshals obviously have a similar reputation to that of the black sheriffs. The aviation security attendants, as they are called in official German, are actually supposed to guarantee safety on passenger flights, and above all they are supposed to prevent aircraft hijackings and terrorist attacks on board. But in the decade after 9/11, according to the US Transportation Security Administration, an average of one air marshal was arrested every month for violating the law and another was terminated for misconduct.
A particularly blatant case recently occurred on board a plane from New York to London. There was a prisoner on the plane who was to be extradited to Great Britain. When they landed at Heathrow, the Metropolitan Police quickly had to deal with two detainees – because they also took one of the two air marshals who were supposed to hand over the prisoner into custody. Following a clear indication from the flight staff.
Both air marshals had become heavily drunk on the plane, which in itself is fatal. Both the prisoner to be monitored and all passengers would probably have been in better hands if the person to be extradited had been entrusted to any civilian passenger. One of the two security men also groped a flight attendant after getting really excited from the alcohol.
It is not possible to find out whether this man will be able to bill his return to the USA as a business trip, but it seems unlikely. If he is lucky, none of his (former) colleagues will be on board this flight and he will therefore remain unmolested by a member of this extremely unpleasant group of passengers. Maybe his drinking brother also has to look after him from the flight there.
The author has a basic skepticism towards members of the executive branch and is happy every time it is refuted.