By Jessica Garrison and Jennifer Oldham, Los Angeles Times
Mayor James K. Hahn called Friday for an internal investigation into LAX police after hidden cameras showed several airport officers hanging out at Del Taco, picking up a child from school in a patrol car and drinking sodas at the food court at the Tom Bradley International Terminal — when they were supposed to be protecting the airport.
“I am very concerned about … airport police officers neglecting their duties,” Hahn wrote to Los Angeles International Airport Executive Director Kim Day. “I know you share my concern that the security at the airport must not be compromised.”
Meanwhile, Councilman Jack Weiss, a persistent critic of the 58-year-old department, called once again for the 300-officer Airport Police to be disbanded and folded into the Los Angeles Police Department under Police Chief William J. Bratton.
“The time has come,” Weiss said, saying he was outraged at an investigation by KCBS-TV Channel 2 reporter David Goldstein. The report, which aired Thursday night, showed a handful of officers spending hours of their shifts off the airport site or on site but apparently not working.
The video also showed officers ignoring emergency radio calls about abandoned suitcases in the airport and instead chatting with each other around a restaurant table. Television reporters followed LAX officers for two months using hidden cameras.
Airport Police Chief Bernard J. Wilson said his department had “started an immediate investigation involving a number of officers and supervisors.”
He said two employees had been placed on administrative leave with pay and added that there were “behind-the-scenes administrative things going on to make sure the message is conveyed that they’re expected to do their job.”
The airport police department is charged with preventing crime at the airport, the state’s No. 1 terrorist target. In addition to sworn police, the force employs about 300 unarmed security officers. “I will not tolerate misconduct,” Wilson said. “And I won’t allow the reputation of the airport police to be tarnished by a few.”
But those sentiments did little to calm tempers at City Hall.
“This is outrageous,” said Councilman Dennis Zine, a former LAPD officer, who said the video showed that the officers “lack integrity, honesty and professionalism” and was “deeply disturbing.”
Zine, along with Weiss and Councilman Tony Cardenas, demanded an “immediate explanation” from the airport about what is being done to prevent such misconduct.
The council members also called for the airport to release all documentation on officer deployment to a security consultant who will soon be hired to study merging the airport police with the LAPD.
The video comes on the heels of several other publicized missteps by the airport police.
On May 3, airport police SWAT officers boarded a Singapore Airlines jet after it had accidentally transmitted a hijacking alert. Some law enforcement officials questioned whether that was an appropriate response, saying that airport police should have waited for the FBI.
Then, later that month, airport SWAT officers in an SUV joined a car chase through Inglewood. The vehicle crashed into a utility pole and overturned. An officer was critically injured, as was a pedestrian.
“Now this,” said Weiss. “In my view, three strikes and you’re out. We need to have the LAPD take over policing at the airport.”