Airport Police - Who are they???

Factual Questions
1

I picked up my dear darling mother from the airport today, and as I left, watched the Airport Police officer giving a speeder a ticket on the side of the road next to the airport.

It struck me as I drove past that while their patrol car says “Airport Police”, I’m not sure what level of government they are affiliated with. Are they a division of the Local Police? State Patrol? The FAA? The FBI? Their own little empire, answerable to no one?

And has this changed as a result of 9/11? Did they get nationalized along with the security officers inside the airport proper?

I’m talking about the patrolmen in police cars, not the security folks manning the metal detectors and strip searching little old ladies in the corner.

And while I’m on the topic of unusual police departments, what about the Veterans Administration Police? We have a unit at the local VA hospital that have their own uniforms (different patches) and different police cars than any other police department in this area. Who do they work for?

:confused:
Eli

2

They are probably a seperate police unit created by the state for policing the airports. Which airport was it?

Here in NY and NJ, the three major airports are owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Port Authority Police Dept polices them.

3

The Airport Police at TF Green (Warwick, RI) are sworn police officers, with the same powers as a municipal police department (arrest, use of force, etc)…think of the airport as a town-within-a-town. They patrol the terminal, roadways, perimeter fence, and the aircraft operations area(s). The city of Warwick’s police assist Airport Police if something big happens, but they don’t have primary jurisdiction over airport property.

http://www.pvdairport.com/departments/police/default.htm

Logan Airport up on Boston uses the Massachusetts State Police, I don’t think MassPort has thier own police department, but I could be wrong.

The folks running the metal detectors and the security checkpoint are TSA…the federal agency created after 9/11 that handles aircraft security.

4

OK, that’s kind of what I expected. I was a bit surprised that the local police would have a unit with different insignia from the city police. But if they were a “state” police force run by our local Metropolitan Airports Commision or Transit Council, that would make sense.

Thanks!

Eli

5

In St. Louis MO, the airport is owned by the City of St. Louis, but located outside the city limits in St. Louis County.

The Airport Police are sworn City of St. Louis Police, assigned to the airport.

6

The VA Police at your local hospital work for The Department of Veterans Affairs, which was elevated to cabinet-level status in 1989. Just as FBI agents work for the Department of Justice and Secret Service agents work for the Department of the Treasury, VA police ultimately report to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Here is a link to the VA Police

Here is a link to The Department of Veterans Affairs

7

My first link did not work. Here is another link to the VA Police:http://www.va.gov/losle/oslewebpage.htm

8

I made a mistake. Here is my final link:http://www.va.gov.osle/oslewebpage.htm

9

In Nashville, they are the semi-autonomous branch of the Metro cops that provides security.

They are also a dumping grounds for the inept.

Their principle activity is harassing any traveler that looks too poor to afford a lawyer, drinking coffee, and holding up the walls.

they have no value in protecting this community, being featherbedders and slackers, to a man.

3 days after 9/11, they abandoned their posts, guarding the control tower. Reason?

No discipline or firings took place.

I just love the South. :smack: