It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again: The Newest Attack on Pensions
Remember last year’s initiative aimed at restructuring California’s public employee pensions, put forth by former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed? After suing Attorney General Kamala Harris over the title and summary description of the measure — and losing — plus facing the high unlikelihood of gathering 800,000 signatures in time to make the November 2015 ballot, Reed withdrew the measure.
Turbulence at the TSA Reinforces Need for Airport Police
The start of the busy summer travel season was accompanied by a string of highly publicized security lapses and leadership shakeups at the Transportation Security Administration, foregrounding concerns about the agency’s effectiveness that LAAPOA and other airport police groups have been voicing for years. As the scrutiny intensifies, many aviation security experts have concluded that the TSA is failing in its central purpose, and the billions of dollars spent on it since 9/11 have done little or nothing to make air travel safer.
Lawless Drone Use Poses a Growing Danger to Air Traffic
Once the stuff of science fiction, drones are now becoming a regular feature of our skies. Thanks to rapid technological advances, anyone can buy a small, powerful unmanned aircraft system (UAS) online for less than $500, and the military, law enforcement, businesses and hobbyists find more uses for remote-controlled fliers every day.
Driven Into the Ground: It’s Time to Replace LAXPD’s Aging Patrol Fleet
Police cars are one of the main symbols that the public associates with law enforcement, and one of the primary tools that help officers do their jobs effectively. Hard-driving police work causes tremendous wear and tear on vehicles, and regular repairs and replacements are required to maintain safety and efficiency. Yet Los Angeles Airport Police are saddled with a high-mileage, often dilapidated fleet far beyond the norms of accepted best practices.
Keeping Pace With Change: LAXPD’s Diverse History
The Los Angeles Airport Police Department has grown exponentially since its origin with just six officers and one sergeant in 1946. Along the way, its responsibilities have continued to evolve in response to local events and the shifting global security environment. The rich history of the LAXPD demonstrates its officers’ constant commitment to ensuring the safety of the traveling public and the residents of Los Angeles, as well as the crucial importance of having an on-site, specially trained force dedicated to airport law enforcement.
Separate but Equal — Or Not?
Among the many challenges of meeting LAX’s growing security needs is maintaining a stable and sufficiently staffed police force. Faced with the reality of recruitment and retention issues — including heightened competition for quality officers among all agencies and police departments — it’s time for the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) to address a glaring problem: the pay and benefit discrepancies between LAPD and LAXPD for performing the same services at LAX.
L.A.’s Ongoing History of Airport Revenue Diversion Sidetracks Public Safety
On April 8, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DOT OIG) released its findings from a nine-month investigation into revenue diversion at LAX in a report titled “FAA Oversight Is Inadequate to Ensure Proper Use of Los Angeles International Airport Revenue for Police Services and Maximization of Resources.” The audit found that Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) improperly used more than $8 million of LAX revenues and funding between 2006 and 2012 without adequate documentation or support, most of it for LAPD policing services.
9-1-1 System Upgrade at LAX Long Overdue
A lot of attention has been rightly focused on the February 27 AP story about how the LAX emergency communications system failed during the November 1, 2013, shooting in Terminal 3. Just seconds after the shooting had begun, a screening supervisor called dispatch but had to flee the area as the gunman approached.