Anxiety Over Liability Stalls Airport-Burbank Police Pact

Because of worries over legal liability, Burbank Airport administrators are not sure they want to let airport police aid the Burbank Police Department in emergencies, even though Burbank has offered to pay any resulting judgments.

The nine members of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority agreed at their meeting Monday that they want more information from Burbank before approving a proposed new cooperation pact between the airport police and the Burbank Police Department.

Burbank City Atty. Douglas Holland told the authority that the city would be financially responsible for any liability damages awarded against airport police for actions taken while helping the Burbank Police Department in an emergency.

The airport commissioners agreed to ask Burbank to spell out in detail how it would protect the airport authority from liability.

The proposed agreement gives the Burbank police chief the right to ask for help from airport officers when Burbank has “a life-threatening” emergency. The airport could turn down the request if enough officers were not available.

The present agreement is broader, giving the police chief the right to ask the airport police for assistance whenever he wishes, but the city department has agreed informally to limit requests until the new agreement is approved, said Richard Vacar, manager of airport affairs.

Vacar said the airport authority’s insurance carrier covers its officers for actions taken off the airport grounds that began at the airport--such as chasing a thief--but not for actions taken elsewhere that have no airport connection. “We have to buy insurance on the open market, and the carriers get nervous about things like that,” he said.

Authority President Robert W. Garcin expressed worries about lawsuits and legal claims. “The liability issue is changing the face of America,” he said.

“We are treading on very dangerous ground,” Garcin said, because the airport’s officers “are not just other policemen, like the Burbank, Glendale or Pasadena officers,” who are bound by mutual assistance pacts to come to each other’s aid in emergencies.

After the meeting, Garcin said he meant that airport police are not trained as broadly as municipal officers. “They have to meet state standards, but only for limited police activity. Our emphasis is on their being of service to the airport users, not on going in to make drug arrests or riot control or anything like that.”

Holland and Mary Lou Howard, an airport commissioner who is also on the Burbank City Council, said requests from Burbank for assistance would be rare. Life-threatening emergencies come “only once or twice a year,” Holland estimated.

The assistance probably would be for short periods only, but in an emergency, the airport police might be closer than help from the Sheriff’s Department, Glendale or Pasadena, Howard said.

Garcin noted that Burbank is self-insured, paying judgments from its own reserves, up to a certain amount. Above that amount, Holland said, the city has liability coverage through an insurance company.