The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Louisville International Airport is without a bomb-sniffing dog to patrol its terminal, despite sending five officers to Texas to become certified handlers of the dogs.
Three officers have left the much-publicized program under questionable circumstances, one did not complete the federal government’s 10-week training program at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and another and his dog failed a required certification test, The Courier-Journal reported in Sunday’s editions.
William Ball was fired in October for failing to report for work at the end of an administrative leave that he said was ordered after he tested positive for using marijuana. Ron DeSoto said he resigned in July, and Kenny Freeman transferred out of the canine unit 13 months ago and resigned from the airport police department last month, the newspaper reported. Freeman had been accused in court records of having worked around explosives while intoxicated.
Kelly Daniels and dog Brandy failed a certification test in October, according to airport officials, who say the team will try again. David Looney did not complete the training course, according to airport officials, and returned to regular airport police duty.
Airport and federal Transportation Security Administration officials declined to answer specific questions about the canine program, citing federal laws enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that prohibit release of “sensitive security information.”
The newspaper confirmed information through interviews, airport records and other records obtained under Kentucky’s Open Records Act.
Charles “Skip” Miller, executive director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, said that while bomb-sniffing dogs provide enhanced security, they are not required at airports the size of Louisville’s.
The Transportation Security Administration, created by Congress in November 2001, operates the National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program “in partnership with airports,” David Kontny, director of the national program, said in a phone interview.
Canine officers are employees of airports or other local government agencies, Kontny said, while the TSA monitors the program and provides training and $40,000 per year per canine unit. He said only the largest airports are required to have canine programs for funding reasons, but “as funds have become available, we’ve been able to expand the program.”
Since 9/11, the number of canine teams available for airport duty has doubled to more than 300 at 64 of the nation’s airports, and plans call for expanding the program to 420 teams at 82 airports by the end of 2005, according to Kontny and the TSA Web site.
The program’s budget is $17 million this fiscal year, the Web site said.
Kontny said trained dog teams provide airports with a mobile, accurate and quick tool for conducting searches, and that the TSA sets “some of the highest standards anywhere” for certification.
Because of that, he said, it is not unusual for canine teams to fail a first attempt at certification; he said the TSA works with officers and their dogs to pinpoint problems and to get them certified.