Airport Police and Politicians Don’t Mix

Re “Study Rejects Merger of LAX Police, LAPD,” March 25: I wonder if the needs of the airport will be forgotten as quickly as L.A. City Councilman Jack Weiss has forgotten that he was one of the lawmakers who demanded the airport pay an independent aviation security company to conduct a study on the Airport Police. They also requested that the study include the feasibility of an LAPD/Airport Police merger. Now Weiss dismisses and attacks the expert study. His actions prove that downtown politicians should not be given responsibility for airport security decisions. How many police officers could have been funded with the $900,000 spent on this study?

Capt. LaPonda

J. Fitchpatrick

President, Airport Police

Command Officers Assn.

of Los Angeles

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Re “LAPD Leaves Bag of Explosives at LAX,” March 25: The good news: Someone has lost his job for a significant failure in the war on terrorism. The bad news: It was a dog. Failing to sniff out explosive powder when that is your job is a pretty major failure -- one of less consequence than remaining on vacation while “the system was blinking red,” as George Tenet said of pre-9/11 intelligence on a possible Al Qaeda attack. But this dog’s failure cannot be tolerated. It is good to see someone is finally being held accountable.

Dave Fratello

Manhattan Beach