"Los Angeles Undertakes Massive Security Projects"

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

Los Angeles Undertakes Massive Security Projects
Airport Security Report


Since 9/11, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has been a hotbed for
security initiatives designed to protect infrastructure and passengers at
America's third-busiest airport. 

The largest of all the projects is the installation of explosives detection
systems (EDS) into the baggage conveyor system to screen all passenger
checked baggage. LAX is one of the major airports that has had to deal with
the TSA's haphazard dispersal of security equipment and personnel at U.S.
airports last year. The interim security solution put in place at LAX for
passenger and baggage screening consisted of more than 270 explosives trace
detection (ETD) devices and nearly 60 EDS machines dumped into the lobbies
of LAX's nine terminals at a cost of more than $70 million. The TSA
initially deployed almost 3,000 screeners at the airport but has gradually
decreased that figure to around 2,400. The airport also has expanded its use
of canine explosives detection teams for baggage screening. 

The airport is seeking a letter of intent from the TSA to carry out an
estimated $315 million facility modification for EDS installation. Designs
could be complete by September with projected construction schedules of 24
months for domestic terminals and 36 months for the Tom Bradley
International Terminal. 

Because of the hasty deployment of screening equipment, reduction in the
number of screeners and the rising summer passenger volume at America's
third- busiest airport, there is a growing concern over the increase in
passenger wait and service times at security checkpoints. Since the TSA
announced screener reductions across the nation in April, some airports have
seen a very noticeable spike in processing times and passenger lines during
peak operating hours. To combat the problem at LAX, six more passenger
screening lanes will be added at a cost of $1 million over the summer. Four
lanes will be constructed at the international terminal and one lane each
will be added at Terminals 1 and 3. About 16,000-sq. ft. will be impacted,
including several food/beverage and retail concessionaires. 

Like every other airport, Los Angeles had to increase its police presence
following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Los Angeles Airport Police has hired
45 officers in the past year and is hiring another 50 officers this year.
Nearly 50 officers are deployed each day, but the airport has seen that
number escalate to 120 officers during Code Orange intervals. The three Code
Orange periods this year have cost Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) an
estimated $6.3 million for police presence at its four airports. 

To aid in surveillance and deterrence measures, the airport has undertaken a
$26 million project to install more than 1,200 closed circuit television
(CCTV) cameras and an $11 million project to replace four miles of perimeter
fencing. The new CCTV system will be integrated into current video resources
and will be monitored at a new centralized station. About 100 cameras are
being added to the international terminal through November, while cameras
are being installed in all other buildings through late 2005. The fencing
project will see new 21/2-foot high concrete rails installed with eight feet
of chain-link fence and six strands of barbed wire. A new security roadway
will be constructed and security lighting will be installed around much of
the perimeter. Construction is expected to start in November. 

The airport also revalidated all security badges and completed criminal
history checks on airport employees last year. But the airport ended up with
the added task of fingerprinting almost 2,300 TSA employees at a cost of
nearly $130,000 because the agency had not completed background
investigations of its screeners. $9 Billion Expansion Plan 

All these projects could be overshadowed by a mammoth $9 billion expansion
proposal focusing on the use of concentric rings of security to disperse
people and security processes away from the most critical infrastructure.
The goal of the proposal is to significantly restrict vehicle access to
terminal structures by funneling passengers through initial screening areas
at centralized parking locations. 

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn unveiled June 25 the enhanced safety and
security alternative expansion proposal to wide skepticism from local
politicians and airlines. The plan seeks to accommodate up to 79 million
annual passengers at the airport - a growth of nearly 20 million from 2002
figures - over an 11-year construction period starting in late 2004. 

The plan would dramatically transform the passenger experience at the
airport by centralizing parking areas into two locations on the east
boundary. Security staff would utilize these check-in centers to provide
initial screening of all passengers and their baggage with traditional
magnetometer and x-ray equipment. Behavioral monitoring and facial
recognition technology also could be utilized, according to a security
analysis performed on the mayor's behalf by Science Applications
International Corp. (SAIC). 

Passengers would board automated people movers to be taken to a new 6.5
million-sq.-ft. centralized terminal area (CTA), where they would undergo
TSA screening before boarding aircraft. 

Rental car facilities would be centralized, as would employee parking lots.
Initial screening also would be performed at these locations. 

However, the report does not address screening redundancy issues,
particularly the cost and responsibility of screening passengers at the
remote locations. The associated time to perform secondary screening at
these locations was not addressed either. 

The reliance on traditional screening technologies at those locations may
not necessarily prevent the introduction of prohibited devices or weapons
into the "sterile terminal" area. But the SAIC report states TSA screening
would be performed close to boarding gates, thus leaving the front of
terminal and the automated people mover vulnerable if objects passed
undetected through the low- intensity screening. 

The roadway network around the new terminal building effectively would be
closed to all traffic except delivery trucks, which would be screened
beforehand, and FlyAway bus service. Passengers using the bus would be
screened at their pickup locations away from the airport and would be
dropped off at the terminal curbside. 

Critics argued the plan would be too expensive and may not address all
security needs. The Rand Corp. published a paper stating that the mayor's
plan "would likely have a slightly positive effect on improving LAX
security." The expansion plan is subject to nine public hearings.


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