National Academies Press: OpenBook

Models for Law Enforcement at Airports (2020)

Chapter: Chapter 8 - Department of Public Safety Model

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Page 37
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Department of Public Safety Model." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Models for Law Enforcement at Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25893.
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Page 37
Page 38
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Department of Public Safety Model." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Models for Law Enforcement at Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25893.
×
Page 38
Page 39
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Department of Public Safety Model." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Models for Law Enforcement at Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25893.
×
Page 39
Page 40
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 8 - Department of Public Safety Model." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Models for Law Enforcement at Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25893.
×
Page 40

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37 A DPS is frequently an organization employing emergency medical responders, firefighters, and police officers. The following two respondents indicate the use of a DPS as the law enforce- ment model at their airports: • Blue Grass Airport • Republic Airport. Other instances of DPSs providing airport law enforcement services include the following: • Charleston County Aviation Authority Department of Public Safety, which supplies law enforcement to Charleston International Airport, Charleston Executive Airport, and Mount Pleasant Regional Airport • Columbia Metropolitan Airport in West Columbia, SC • John Glenn International, Rickenbacker International, and Bolton Field in Columbus, OH • DFW Airport Police and Fire • Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport • Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Police and Fire Department • Tucson International Airport and Ryan Airfield in Tucson, AZ. Though not a respondent to this survey, BNA also uses the DPS as its airport law enforcement model (Nashville International Airport, 2019). The BNA DPS is dual-certified; that is, the agency provides full police services, aircraft rescue, firefighting, and emergency medical services (Nashville International Airport, 2019), as do many airport DPSs. As an example illustrating the difficulty of putting airport law enforcement into discrete categories, the King County, WA, Sheriff’s Office and the King County Department of Transportation (DOT) agreed that the Sheriff’s Office will provide both law enforcement and firefighting for the King County International Airport/Boeing Field (King County, 2019). Is this an example of airport law enforcement provided by a sheriff’s office or by a DPS? The sheriff’s deputies are dual-certified as both LEOs and firefighters/first responders and yet work for a sheriff’s department (King County, 2019). Category The security categories of the responding airports using a DPS model are Category II (1) and Category IV (1). Ownership Model The ownership models reported by the respondents are an airport authority (1) and a state- owned entity (1), which is also listed as another ownership model, for Republic Airport, which is owned by the New York DOT. C H A P T E R 8 Department of Public Safety Model

38 Models for Law Enforcement at Airports Interface between Ownership Agency and/or Airport Operator and the Law Enforcement Model This section asked about the interface and coordination experienced between the airport owner and/or operator and the law enforcement model. Reporting Structure One respondent elaborated on the reporting structure of its model, “Blue Grass Airport (LEX) is governed by the Lexington Fayette Urban County Airport Board, a ten-member quasi-governmental entity as defined by Kentucky Revised Statutes. The DPS reports to the Director of Public Safety and Operations who, in turn, reports to the Airport Executive Director, who reports to the Board.” Managerial Control The level of managerial control experienced by one respondent is described as “[s]tandard oversight as a board/quasi-governmental agency.” Level of Integration into Airport Operations One respondent indicates that while operations and safety are separate departments, they work collaboratively. Level of Owner or Operator Control over Law Enforcement Policies One respondent describes the level of airport owner or operator control over law enforcement policies as oversight only. Discretion of Owner or Operator in Determining Access to Law Enforcement Equipment The single respondent to this question notes that the airport owner or operator does not determine law enforcement access to specific equipment. Interface between TSA and Law Enforcement One respondent indicates that TSA and the public safety officers work collaboratively each day, develop the airport security plan collaboratively, and interact regularly to resolve any oversight issues. Financial Aspects This next set of questions delved into the financial aspects of this law enforcement model. For example, DFW International Airport uses the DPS model. DFW includes three divisions within its DPS: fire, police, and security and emergency management (Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, 2019). In aggregate, the DPS budgets include $63 million for salaries and wages, $30.5 million for benefits, $10.5 million for contract services, $3.7 million for equipment and supplies, $2 million for utilities, $1.5 million for administrative costs, and nothing for insurance (Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, 2019).

Department of Public Safety Model 39 Training Costs The one respondent describes training costs as basic police academy costs, field training costs, and annual continuing education costs. Specifically, this respondent indicates that the department incurs costs for a “28-week state basic academy (room, board, training, equipment) $17,500 10-week Field Training (time and personnel costs of officer and FTO) 40-hour annual in-service for each officer (20 total officers, $1,000 per officer), $20,000 annually.” Liability The sole respondent to this question indicates that under this other law enforcement model, the costs for liability include “blanket coverage for all airport employees, 1 million dollars gen- eral liability.” Jurisdiction The one respondent to this question notes that it has experienced no jurisdictional challenges or issues. Management of LEOs This section asked the respondent to consider the management of LEOs. LEO Reporting Structure The sole respondent to this question describes a hierarchical reporting structure within the law enforcement model: “a militaristic structure is utilized with six public safety officers assigned to a platoon which is supervised by a Sergeant and Lieutenant or Captain. Each platoon (three total) reports to the Assistant Chief of Public Safety who reports to the Director of Public Safety and Operations. The Director reports to the Airport Executive Director who reports to the Airport Board.” LEO Managerial Control The level of managerial control is also hierarchical, as the single respondent reports: “three platoons of public safety personnel comprise the Operations section. The Assistant Chief is responsible for management and training of the platoons. The Director of Public Safety is responsible for Administrative control of the department. Human Resources is responsible for all pay, benefit, promotion and related employee issues.” Access to Ancillary Resources for LEOs The one respondent to this question indicates that the airport has access to ancillary resources through mutual aid agreements with other agencies and that executing requests for ancillary resources is fast and easy. Discretion in Selection or Placement of Officers The only respondent to this question indicates that it has “100% discretion” in selecting and placing officers in the airport. The respondent expands by describing a thorough recruitment and hiring process before officers are assigned to the airport facility: “officers are hired after

40 Models for Law Enforcement at Airports a selection process that meets airport and state law enforcement qualification requirements. Selection process includes the following: (1) Written examination; (2) Physical fitness assess- ment; (3) Physical exam; (4) Psychological screening; (5) Suitability screening; (6) Drug screen; (7) Polygraph; (8) Credit history report; (9) Work history and reference checks; (10) Criminal history records check.” LEO Operations This section asked about LEO operations. Level of Expertise of LEOs Assigned to the Airport For LEOs to be eligible to apply for assignment to the airport, the level of expertise required is a state-certified law enforcement officer or a certified firefighter (1). Level of Airport-Specific Training The single response to this question provides a highly detailed description of the required level of airport-specific training: “officers are on probation for one year and must obtain all law enforcement, firefighting and emergency medical state/national certifications. Additionally, and within the same year each officer must complete the following airport-specific training: (1) Domain Awareness (air side, land side, standard and emergency operations), (2) Security badge and access control, (3) Airfield Movement/Non-movement vehicle operations, (4) Airport HR [human resources] policy handbook, (5) Department Standard Operating Guidelines, (6) Responsibilities under the Airport Certification Manual, (7) Responsibilities under the Airport Emergency Plan, (8) Responsibilities under the Airport Security Plan, and (9) Profi- ciency of use in issued equipment, department vehicles, apparatus and equipment.” LEO Stationed at Security Checkpoints The single response to this question indicates that the LEOs are not stationed at security checkpoints. LEO Airfield Driving LEOs are trained to drive on the airfield and are allowed to drive both on the FAA AOA and the non-FAA AOA (1). Police versus Airport Security The next group of questions asked respondents to describe the difference between police and security at their airports. The single response to these questions notes that there is indeed a difference between police and security personnel and a clear separation of power between the two. Access to Ancillary Operations and Resources The sole response to the question about access to specific ancillary operations and resources indicates access to bomb squads, K-9 units, explosive detection, hostage negotiations, and SWAT.

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Each airport and its law enforcement model have a unique set of relationships, operations, and resources.

The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Synthesis 107: Models for Law Enforcement at Airports provides a concise body of knowledge to assist airport management, operators, researchers, and users by detailing the varying types of law enforcement models available to them.

The types of airport law enforcement models include airport police, city police, county sheriffs, departments of public safety, and state police. Many airports operate by using layers of law enforcement responses composed of more than one law enforcement model.

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