Union to hold no-confidence vote

LOS ANGELES, CA – Marshall McClain, President of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers’ Association (LAAPOA) issued the following statement regarding LAXPD Assistant Chief Brian Walker’s leave of absence following a criminal investigation and subsequent plea deal made with the U.S. Attorney’s office on charges of fraud.

“The situation with Chief Walker is unfortunate.  The public expects our officers to follow the law and we expect our police chief and command staff to follow the law.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again.  It is long past time for the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) to utilize a previous agreement that was put into place between the Los Angeles Police Commission and Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners to bring in the Office of the Inspector General to investigate corruption within the Department.

As ratified by the April 1, 2014, Memorandum of Agreement, the Inspector General is authorized to conduct audits and investigations of the Los Angeles Airport Police Department pursuant to airport officers’ expanded responsibilities under 830.1 status (legislated by state Assembly Bill 128). With personnel issues increasing, the Inspector General is the proper third party to conduct a thorough investigation into the current command and operations practices at the LAXPD.

There continues to be a growing perception of double standards for upper management conduct and unfair targeting and punishment of lower-level officers for minor infractions. Growing numbers of grievances, contract disputes, wrongful terminations, retaliation lawsuits, civil rights violations, and complaints of misconduct by supervisors point to an urgent problem that needs to be resolved immediately, as a strong, unified police force is necessary for the continued safety and security of passengers and businesses at the world’s sixth-busiest airport.

In the following weeks, LAAPOA will be conducting a survey of its rank-and-file officers on the leadership of LAX police department, including Chief Patrick Gannon, as well as the perception of bias in promotions and policy enforcement.

We at LAAPOA want to make it clear that Chief Walker’s actions are in no way reflective of the hundreds of men and women who work everyday to keep the traveling public safe at Los Angeles’ airports and who serve proudly.”