"Flights held up as LAPD officer breaches security at LAX"

Sunday, December 5, 2004

Flights held up as LAPD officer breaches security at LAX 
All American Airlines flights are held up for 15 minutes because off-duty
policeman causes a security breach.
By Nick Green 
The Redondo Beach (CA) Daily Breeze


American Airlines flights were halted and passenger screening was stopped
for 15 minutes at LAX on Saturday after an off-duty Los Angeles Police
Department officer caused a security breach at a terminal.

It's unknown how many flights were delayed as a result of the 10:45 a.m.
incident or how many passengers were inconvenienced, said Nancy Castles,
spokeswoman for Los Angeles International Airport.
 
Castles declined to identify the officer involved or whether he faces
disciplinary action for causing what she described as "not a serious
ruckus."

"We don't want this to be blown out of proportion," she said. "This is an
administrative issue, which will be followed up by the LAPD."

Castles said the officer, on temporary assignment to LAX, was escorting
family members to a gate in Terminal 4 when he flashed a LAX-issued badge
and bypassed the security screening himself. American Airlines is the main
tenant in Terminal 4.

Another LAPD officer, also on temporary assignment to LAX, saw a man walking
around the checkpoint and called a security breach, halting all flight
operations and the screening of passengers.

The off-duty officer, who was not wearing his police uniform, was found 15
minutes later in the boarding gate area by security personnel, who
determined he had violated LAX policy, Castles said.

Just as members of the general public are no longer permitted to accompany
friends and family to boarding gates because of heightened airport security
in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, neither are off-duty police
officers, Castles said.

"It is an inconvenience, but it's a minor one," Castles said.

Officer Don Cox, an LAPD spokesman. said he wasn't aware of the incident and
had not been notified by the airport.

Security at what is one of the world's busiest airports and a major
terrorist target has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, with reports of
LAX police officers not responding to emergency calls and enjoying lengthy
meal breaks while on duty.


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