Airport police seek more cooperation from the LAPD
About 1 a.m. on Nov. 24, an emergency call was made from Los Angeles International Airport, raising the possibility that a gunman or terrorist had shot someone in Terminal 4. Time was of the essence, but 911 operators at the Los Angeles Police Department notified officers from the Pacific Division near Marina del Rey.
An airport policeman in the terminal says he was never contacted, nor were several others patrolling nearby. They say they did not learn of the call until they saw an LAPD helicopter overhead and a group of LAPD officers arrive outside the terminal entrance armed with rifles.
The report of “shots fired, man down” turned out to be unfounded. But the incident has helped raise questions about the procedures of LAPD’s 911 operators when they handle calls involving possible disturbances, medical emergencies, crimes and traffic accidents at the airport, which was identified as a top target for terrorists after 9/11.
Airport police who patrol LAX and belong to a separate department contend that LAPD’s operators have regularly contacted only LAPD officers, even though they can be farther away and take longer to reach the airport, even when the most serious calls come in.
The situation has emerged as a safety concern for the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Assn., which recently wrote a letter to Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith, who chairs the council’s public safety committee. The association, which represents 425 LAX officers, demanded that something be done.
“We are talking about things happening in a terminal where officers are stationed and they are not being notified,” said Marshall E. McClain, president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Assn. “We need to be aware of incidents so we can respond. There are both safety and liability concerns. Someone could get hurt.”
Los Angeles police said improving communications between the two departments is a primary goal, but they disagreed with some of the association’s claims.
Based on department records, Lt. John Romero, an LAPD spokesman, said that from Jan. 1, 2009, to May 26, 2010, airport police were notified in most cases. He also said airport police can monitor LAPD’s radio calls and broadcast on the department’s frequencies.
LAPD officials do not dispute whether there was a shots-fired call, but Romero said the incident took place last year and that the communication issue it raised has been worked out since then.
Romero said that other calls in question either cannot be verified, were months old or were not on airport property.
“Part of any good relationship is a free flow of information and a commitment to making improvements at every opportunity,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck. “The LAPD and LAXPD enjoy a good relationship and are committed to examining the concerns of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Assn.”
Airport Police Chief George Centeno said the airport police association took its concerns to the department’s commanders in March and meetings were held with LAPD. Since then, he said, airport police have been notified of 911 calls by LAPD.
The airport police department, which patrols LAX, Ontario International Airport and Van Nuys Airport, strives to respond to calls at LAX within 2 1/2 minutes. The federal requirement for airport police is no later than five minutes.
Though LAPD has a substation at the airport, McClain says that LAPD officers have come from Venice or other nearby neighborhoods to answer calls at LAX, which can take anywhere from five to 20 minutes.
In the association’s letter, McClain cites several calls in which airport police were either inside terminals or near the scene but were not notified by 911 operators. In addition to the shots-fired call, the examples include a traffic accident with injuries, several “unknown trouble” calls and a call for assistance by an LAPD officer.
“Why should LAPD officers travel long distances in heavy traffic, often from the Venice area, when professional law enforcement personnel are already at the airport and able to respond quicker, especially when LAPD resources are thinly stretched all over the city?” McClain wrote.
He is not convinced that the problem has been solved yet. Last month, McClain said, the LAPD sent about a dozen officers to handle an assault with a deadly weapon call at LAX, but airport police were not notified by 911 operators that LAPD was responding.
Greg Ridgeway, director of the Center for Quality Policing at the Rand Corp., a Santa Monica-based think tank, said the association may have exposed a hole in the communication system that “needs to be ironed out.” Better coordination can easily solve the problem, Ridgeway said.
Prompted by the association’s letter, Smith has introduced a motion to the City Council, calling on both departments to improve their responses to possible emergencies at LAX and saying that the LAPD should route 911 calls involving LAX to airport police.
The motion, scheduled to be discussed by the public safety committee on Monday, also asks the agencies to disclose to the public safety committee the dispatch procedures for 911 calls coming from the airport.
“We are going to try to do more than study this issue,” Smith said. “We want to take action.”
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