"Airport security on 4 legs"

Sunday, June 30, 2002

Airport security on 4 legs 
Under federal mandate, John Wayne Airport recruits man's best friend and
top bomb sniffer to the scene. 
By PETER LARSEN and DENNIS FOLEY
The Orange County (CA) Register 


As technology goes, it is quite basic - the product of ancient
evolution, not modern-day science. The nose of a dog can detect odors
beyond any abilities of man or machine.

"In some cases, it's down to parts per billion, or parts per trillion,"
said Dave Kontny, manager of the new federal Transportation Security
Administration's program to put bomb-sniffing dogs into airports. "In
most cases they're as accurate, or more accurate, than some of the other
equipment we're using."

So as airports rush to build new layers of security - adding
million-dollar machines and scores of new officers - there remains a
significant role for man's best friend.

John Wayne Airport will welcome two dogs in August and a third later in
the year. Ontario International Airport expects its three dogs by
December. Los Angeles International Airport has added at least 10
bomb-sniffing dogs since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and hopes to
add more.

The goals of the bomb-sniffing dogs are varied - to sniff out trouble,
deter terrorists and give travelers a greater sense of security as they
pass through the nation's airports.

Simply seeing the dogs and their partners on patrol seems to make
travelers feel a greater sense of protection, Kontny said.

"Right after Sept. 11 we had a unique incident in St. Louis," he said.
"One of the dog teams walked into the terminal, and as they walked down
the concourse everybody started applauding.

"As they walked along, the applause followed them," Kontny said. "People
can relate to the dogs. It makes them feel safer."

In many ways, the dogs and their handlers will put canine and human
faces on all the new security measures that airports are adding.

"They're a part of the full complement of tools that the TSA has asked
to have implemented at the airport," said Justin McCusker, a John Wayne
Airport spokesman.

"They fit in with the machines we have for baggage, and the wands that
they use on carry-on bags and things like that," he said.

Kennels under construction at John Wayne Airport will cost $411,600 to
build. An adjacent portable office building for the handlers will cost
$50,000, McCusker said.

Though the price of the kennel building adjacent to the end of the
northwest parking garage might seem high to some, it includes six dog
runs, space for grooming and storage, and various special features
required under federal standards for the care and keep of the dogs, he
said.

The kennels will drain directly to the sanitary sewer system and are
air-conditioned so that the air is cooled and circulated whenever
temperatures hit 85 degrees or higher for four or more hours, McCusker
said.

"It seems like a lot, but when you break down each bay and talk about
direct connection to the sanitary sewer and the air condition, it's
really not that much," he said.

John Wayne Airport officials - who had access as needed in the past to
bomb-sniffing dogs owned by the Orange County Sheriff's Department -
declined to say much about how the dogs will be used. 

But Kontny and officials at LAX offered general descriptions of how they
have used their four-pawed anti-terrorist officers.

"They're deployed for high visibility," said Los Angeles Airport Police
Sgt. Blair Lindsay, head of its K-9 unit. "They're a very high deterrent
for the criminal. We're hoping would-be terrorists will say, 'OK, we
don't want to do this.'

"It's also a nice visual benefit to the public," he said. "They see
these dogs out there going through the terminals, doing random checks of
certain things.

"They're available around the clock, so even if you're here at 1:30
a.m., you still see a dog out there," Lindsay said.

And unlike many of the machines now used to screen people and baggage
for bombs and explosives, the dogs are perhaps most valuable for their
mobility, he said, and ability to respond to calls anywhere in the
airport - from the terminals to the parking garages, airplanes to
baggage areas. 

Since Sept. 11, many airports have sought bomb-sniffing dogs, trying to
get them full-time instead of sharing them with law-enforcement duties
away from the airport.

As the landscape shifted after Sept. 11, and federal officials ordered
that airports screen all baggage through bomb-detecting machines by the
end of this year, additional funds have been provided for
bomb-sniffing-dog programs.

Typically, breeds such as Labrador retrievers and Belgian Malinoises are
trained for the job, as well as for the law-enforcement standby, the
German Shepherd. 

The TSA provides support - $40,000 per year per dog team - and also
makes assistance available to pay for the cost of building kennels if
the airports request it, he said.

At least 25 airports that did not have dogs have added them, Kontny
said. 

By the end of the year, 64 of the busiest 80 airports in the country
will have them, with the remaining 16 soon to follow.


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