EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is from an LAPD Press Release written by the Chief of Police, William Bratton. The issue is a controversial one, but Mayor Hahn and former Chief (current Councilman) Bernard Parks both support a merger of police departments, too.

No matter what you think, or who you support, LA Community Policing hopes you'll go out and VOTE !

May 13, 2005

Police merger would benefit Los Angeles
Charter Amendment A aims to cut bureaucracy and improve airport safety

by William Bratton

Los Angeles International Airport today is not as safe as it could or should be. The city of Los Angeles is failing the millions of people who travel through LAX each year and the tens of thousands of people who work there and live in the immediate vicinity by continuing its out-of-date policy of giving two police departments the same job of securing the airport. The current situation can lead to unnecessary confusion, poor coordination and, as a result, a less secure airport. But this is a problem that is easily fixed.

In this post-9-11 era, Los Angeles cannot afford to be complacent about airport security or inflexible about needed change. Unfortunately, the current charter does not allow the mayor or the City Council to make any changes. Only the voters have the power to do that when they go to the polls. A "Yes" vote on Charter Amendment A gives the political leadership of the city a stronger voice in addressing the public safety needs at LAX. I am hopeful that L.A'.s voters will make an informed decision on this critical public safety issue.

Today, LAX has two police departments with shared responsibilities -- the LAPD with 57 officers and the Los Angeles Airport Police with 310. Oftentimes, the two departments perform overlapping functions. It is easy to see why this would create higher than necessary administrative costs and operational inefficiencies. But the problems are much greater than that.

During any terrorist incident, major crime or emergency, the LAPD is called upon to immediately supply additional police resources to help restore control, order and calm. A structure forced to combine the leadership of two agencies at the very moment when a situation is most chaotic and dangerous creates opportunity for lack of accountability and unnecessary delay in achieving a prompt and safe resolution. Recall the confusion surrounding the boarding of a suspected hijacked Singapore airliner, or those initial chaotic moments of the July 4, 2002, El Al shooting.

It makes no sense to have a police force at the airport that does not have within its own organizational and command structure all of the resources necessary to respond to the most dangerous crisis. It would be cost- prohibitive to expand the airport police force when the city already has an agency, the LAPD, that has all of those capabilities and capacities. We have to fix this. It is my belief not only as chief of the LAPD but also as a city resident, voter and frequent user of the airport that the passage of Amendment A is the critical first step.

A recent independent study concluded that the airport police should adopt LAPD policies on use of force, vehicle pursuits and other operational standards and undergo LAPD's police academy training. All of these are good suggestions, but we need to take it to the next logical step -- merge the departments and eliminate the wasteful and potentially confusing problem of having two chiefs in charge. Today there are simply "too many cooks in the kitchen." We need a gradual, carefully considered merger that creates an LAPD Airport Bureau reporting to the executive director of the airport and the Airport Commission that would provide uniform policies and procedures and command and control over all police and security resources. The merger would save money, but more importantly, we would have a safer airport for tens of millions of passengers, LAX employees and those who have businesses and homes nearby.

My ultimate goal as chief of the LAPD is to merge the Airport Police Department and its highly dedicated, professional men and women into the ranks of the LAPD, thus increasing their career and promotional opportunities. A merger would also reduce duplicate bureaucracies and free up significant numbers of officers for increased visibility and effectiveness. My support of this merger is also based on my experience as New York City police commissioner. In 1995, the separate Transit and Public Housing Police were merged into the NYPD. There were significant improvements in public safety in both the city's public housing and transit environments.

Even in the midst of a contentious mayoral election campaign, there is at least one issue on which Mayor James Hahn and Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa agree -- we need to improve security at LAX by placing one police department, the LAPD, in charge of this vital mission.

On Tuesday, voters get to make the critical decision when considering Charter Amendment A.

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http://www.lapdonline.org/press_releases/2005/05/ed05001.htm