Protecting the Rights of First Responders Since 1982
This month, Los Angeles World Airports issued a call to design and construction firms for bids on building an automated people mover at LAX. This significant step forward in the massive $5.5 billion Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP), which aims to dramatically overhaul the airport’s transportation landscape, only underscores the fact that security concerns remain an afterthought when it comes to spending.
After working without a mutually agreed upon contract for six year, today the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to approve a contract with the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association (LAAPOA), the union that represents the sworn police officers and firefighters assigned to all three of Los Angeles’ owned and operated airports, that will give Airport Police Officers a salary increase and provide base wage parity adjustments to ensure that Airport Police Officers are compensated competitively compared to their LAPD counterparts.
As the registrants for the Tommy Scott Memorial LAX Run know, a highly unusual event necessitated rescheduling the race from its original date of May 21 to June 25. After completing a 44,000-mile nautical journey from New Orleans through the Panama Canal to Marina del Rey, the 66,000-pound fuel tank known as ET-94 was scheduled to be delivered to the California Science Center on May 21 as part of a future exhibit with the retired space shuttle Endeavour.
The TSA has faced intense scrutiny in recent weeks as frustrated fliers reach a breaking point over hours-long security lines at U.S. airports. Ongoing staffing issues, heightened screening measures in the wake of the Brussels airport bombing, and the approach of what promises to be a record-setting summer travel season have converged into a perfect storm that highlights the shortcomings of the current aviation security system.
With the summer travel season nearly upon us, Transportation Security Authority (TSA) screening checkpoint wait times are expected to increase exponentially due to screener staffing shortages. The Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers’ Association (LAAPOA) believes these concerns are best addressed by TSA re-assigning its Behavior Detection Officers (BDO) and Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) agents to screening duty, and by repurposing TSA funds from the BDO and VIPR programs to hire additional TSA screening agents to help ease the long lines at the screening area.
Although California hasn’t executed a death-row inmate in more than 10 years, the political battles surrounding the death penalty swirl as intensely as ever. Both sides agree that the current system is riddled with waste, delays and inefficiencies, but they are sharply divided on what to do about it. A January Field poll found that 48% of Californians supported speeding up the execution process, while 47% favored doing away with the death penalty entirely.
The Airport Police that patrol and secure LAX require facilities that can properly deal with the consequences of major issues at the airport such as a terrorist disruption to travel, as well as man-made and natural threats, such as a major earthquake. Given that LAX is the second busiest airport in the nation and a key transportation mode for the region, it is essential that we also have a facility that can properly house our officers and their equipment.