Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Security Lapses Found at
Airport
By Jaye Watson
WXIA-TV Ch 11 (NBC), Atlanta (GA)
If
you've been to Hartsfield-Jackson airport to pick someone up, you know how
frustrating it is to have to keep moving. An 11Alive News investigation,
however, found a major exception to the rule.
You quickly learn when you
come to the airport to pick someone up that it’s best to keep moving or, you
will get moved or you will get ticketed.
It has been that way since Sept.
11. Officials say if cars are kept moving, it limits the ability of a terrorist
to drive up and park a bomb in a very public area.
11Alive's sister
stations in Denver, Washington D.C., and Cleveland, however, found it was easy
to do that at their local airports.
They were able to park a car and walk
away to pick up a passenger. Cars were unattended for five to 15 minutes, plenty
of time to do harm.
But that doesn't appear to be the case at
Hartsfield-Jackson until you go below to the drop off area at the south
terminal. The rules are supposed to be the same as above, but they are
not.
The 11Alive News reporter did not see any Atlanta police officers.
There, however, were plenty of parked cars and some sat empty for several
minutes at a time.
One truck sat for 18 minutes, undisturbed, and another
car sat idle for 46 minutes. While these cars were sitting, some attended, some
empty, a police cruiser drove by, but never stopped.
Almost two hours
later, a K-9 unit arrived, pulling up next to two empty cars. The officer was
there, however, to investigate a suspicious package, which turned out to be
plastic and clothes. The officer left, leaving the rest of the parked vehicles
undisturbed.
Hartsfield-Jackson officials sent a response to 11Alive News
from the Atlanta police department.
In the statement, Maj. Darryl
Tolleson said: “The safety and security of airport travelers is our top
priority. With an average of 40 thousand vehicles each day, the airport police
force has a tremendous responsibility to manage vehicle traffic on both the
upper and lower curbs."
Tolleson said Atlanta police would increase
enforcement on the lower curb at north and south terminals in addition to the
random patrols already being conducted.
Tolleson said that will get rid
of illegally parked vehicles on the lower curb. Violators will be ticketed and
towed.
Click on the link below to view the video:
http://www.11alive.com/includes/buildasx.aspx?fn=http://wm.gannett.speedera.net/wm.gannett/wxia/watson_112304.wmv&sp=http://wm.gannett.speedera.net/wm.gannett/wxia/advertisements/comcast30.wmv
041123231642_airportsecurity.jpg
