National Academies Press: OpenBook

Models for Law Enforcement at Airports (2020)

Chapter: Chapter 15 - Conclusions and Knowledge Gaps

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Page 60
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 15 - Conclusions and Knowledge Gaps." 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 60
Page 61
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 15 - Conclusions and Knowledge Gaps." 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 61

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60 Conclusions and Knowledge Gaps “If you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport.”—Many anonymous speakers As the quote indicates, each airport and its law enforcement model have a unique set of relationships, operations, and resources. Most of the airports in this study provide details and information about the law enforcement model that they use. The findings in this synthesis show the variety of models used and, in particular, the relationships within and around those law enforcement models as well as how they work together to make airports nationwide safer and more efficient. Most responding airports report operating under the airport police model. There are both clear delineations and close working relationships with the airport owner, airport operator, and other law enforcement agencies at multiple levels, such as TSA. Further research related to this synthesis includes: • Airport law enforcement best practices • Costs of various models • Reasons for, justifications for, and results of changing law enforcement models at airports. This study and its associated case examples show how law enforcement models in airports are currently organized and, in many cases, how they function. However, this study investigated through a self-reported survey and does not clearly answer the question regarding best practices for law enforcement for airports or how different law enforcement models align with outcomes, such as performance or cost. This synthesis does not describe a framework for selecting the most appropriate law enforcement model for an airport with given characteristics. For example, unanswered questions include the most effective way for an airport with a specific law enforcement model to manage risks or regulatory obligations and whether law enforcement should be closely integrated with daily airport operations to optimize performance. Additional research could be undertaken to develop guidance on the successful structure, implementation, and improvement methods by drawing from airport law enforcement best practices or law enforcement at other similarly structured organizations. Establishing and drawing from best practices can answer questions related to the most effective structure and implementation methods and related to concepts leading to the improvement of existing law enforcement models. Developing cost estimates for different law enforcement models represents very important information for airports. Most of the airports report either no specific cost information or cost categories with no numbers attached. Without further study, no correlations can be developed between airport size and law enforcement cost, making cost comparisons among the various law enforcement models currently impossible. C H A P T E R 1 5

Conclusions and Knowledge Gaps 61 Additional research to closely investigate how law enforcement models interface with one another, with other government agencies, and with security personnel would be of keen interest. That is, how do security and law enforcement at multiple jurisdictional levels integrate, coordinate, or cooperate? In addition, the literature is replete with stories of airports changing from one law enforce- ment model to another. Establishing and explaining why some law enforcement models are removed and others added can answer relevant questions, leading to the identification of best practices for airports of a specific size, volume, or circumstance. Case examples are included to illustrate the variations found in the law enforcement models, but an expansion of this study—for example, to further describe airport law enforcement best practices, the costs of various models, the ways that interactions between security and law enforcement models function, and the why and how of changing law enforcement models— would provide a more complete picture of airport law enforcement.

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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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