Airport Officer Mourned

With lights flashing, motorcycles and cruisers carrying hundreds of officers drove under an enormous American flag suspended between two Los Angeles Fire Department ladder trucks Friday on their way to bury Los Angeles International Airport Police Officer Tommy Edward Scott.

It took 20 minutes for the procession to wind from Temple Street onto Grand Avenue on its way to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills after a 1 1/2 -hour funeral service at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

Scott, the first LAX police officer to die in the department’s 59-year history, was killed April 29 when a pedestrian commandeered his patrol car, dragging Scott alongside as the officer struggled to regain control of the steering wheel. The suspect drove the cruiser over a curb and into a fire hydrant.

Mayor James K. Hahn, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and most of the Los Angeles City Council joined thousands of family, friends and police officers at the cavernous cathedral to eulogize Scott, who was widely considered one of the airport department’s most popular officers.

Scott, 35, trained many airport police as well as officers at the Rio Hondo Police Academy in Whittier. His in-depth understanding of airport policing and affable demeanor led his superiors to choose him as the department’s unofficial ambassador.

“At least two dozen members of the aviation community told me that when they first heard there was an airport police officer in jeopardy, the first person they called to ask for information was Officer Scott,” Airport Police Chief Bernard J. Wilson told the mourners. “And sadly those were calls that he could not answer.”

During a ceremony filled with rousing song and Bible verses that referred to service and charity, a handful of speakers, including Scott’s father, Hubert Scott, characterized the officer as a hero, a champion and a trailblazer.

“It’s going to take a while before I get used to him not being here,” Hubert Scott said.

At one point in his brief remarks, Hubert Scott had to correct himself. “He knows,” he began, quickly starting over, “He knew.” As he walked off the stage, with hundreds of airport police seated behind him, the audience gave him a standing ovation, leading him to stop and wave.

But most important, Tommy Scott was an inspiration, said many of the 310 LAX officers who had lined the entryway into the cathedral as Scott’s flag-draped coffin was carried in amid bracing bagpipe music.

“We’re doing this for him,” said Officer Robert Corchado of the airport police department’s canine unit.

“At this point we’re getting up in the morning and putting on our uniform for him.”