Police to replace troops at airports
By Jonathan D. Salant
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — National Guard troops patrolling airports will be replaced by uniformed police officers, officials with the new Transportation Security Administration said yesterday.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
In a security directive to airports, the agency said police officers would be stationed at airport screening stations in place of the Guard until the security agency hires its own law enforcement officers.
National Guard troops were called to provide security at Hawai'i's seven airports after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The state is now replacing them with guards from a private security firm, under the direction of the new Transportation Security Administration, possibly until the end of next year.
The federal government will reimburse the airports for the officers' salaries.
In Honolulu, the state will hire a private security firm to replace the Guard, said Honolulu airport manager Stanford Miyamoto.
He said the state has an agreement with the federal agency to provide the armed guards through Dec. 31, 2003, but he hopes to have federal officers in place later this year.
"We're a Category X airport, and they plan to stand up the law enforcement officers for the Category X airports — which are the larger airports in the United States — sooner than some of the rest," Miyamoto said.
Miyamoto said the private officers are expected to replace the National Guard by the middle of this month. They will be under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration and authorized to detain anyone seen as a threat and hand them over to local or federal authorities.
More than 150 part-time Army and Air Guard troops were called to provide added security at the state's seven airports after Sept. 11.
Neighbor Island airports will be responsible for obtaining their own security in accordance with the Transportation Security Administration's directives, Miyamoto said.
Administration spokesman Paul Turk said there was no timetable for replacing the local police with federal law enforcement officers, and the security agency would bring in officers airport by airport.
The agency gave airports until April 30 to arrange for law enforcement officers — local police, state troopers or sheriff's deputies — to stand guard at passenger screening stations. In some cases, the officers will come from the airport authorities' police forces.
Airports are directed to have one officer for every six open lanes at a checkpoint where passengers and carry-on luggage are screened.
"They do need some sort of police force to arrest people who are found violating security rules at the security lanes. These are people bolting through or carrying weapons," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, an advocacy group.
The National Guard has been a fixture at airports since shortly after Sept. 11, but troops are being withdrawn and should be out by the end of May. The troops were supposed to be withdrawn last month, but the Transportation Security Agency successfully sought a two-month extension.
After President Bush called out the Guard, governors stationed about 6,000 troops at airports. The number rose to around 9,000 during the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The federal government covered the $270 million cost.
Staff writer Curtis Lum contributed to this report.
