U.S. Pledges to Help Cities With Airport Security
In a conference call with Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and other mayors from around the country, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta pledged Wednesday to help cities implement new federal airport security requirements.
Mineta told the mayors that in the next few months teams from the Department of Transportation will be dispatched to various airports to work with airport operators and law enforcement officials as they implement tighter security measures, Hahn said.
“That’s going to be very helpful,” the mayor said in an interview after the call. “They can’t come up with a one-size-fits-all approach.”
Hahn and the other mayors who spoke with Mineta are members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ task force on airport security.
Mineta, a former mayor of San Jose, also promised to confer with the mayors regularly as a new pool of federal screeners is hired and airports boost their capabilities to screen checked bags for explosives.
The transportation secretary said he hopes to have 2,100 explosive-detection machines available at airports by the end of next year. Los Angeles International Airport has 13 now, and will need many more to screen all luggage, Hahn said.
Hahn said that Mineta also promised to help cities recoup the additional money they have spent on airport security since Sept. 11.
LAX has already spent more than $35 million for additional security measures, Hahn said.
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