Half of Chicago Airport Police Patrol Unarmed
Joe Cortez June 30, 2016
Report discovers around 300 unarmed police for 230 armed peace officers.
Amid concerns of an airport attack taking place in the United States, an investigation discovered nearly half of sworn peace officers at two major airports patrol without so much as a weapon. According to Chicago ABC affiliate WLS-TV, approximately 300 report to work without a service gun at both of Chicago’s commercial airports.
The force of around 300 belongs to the Chicago Aviation Police Department and is comprised of trained peace officers under Illinois law. However, city law has allowed the group to patrol the airports without a weapon since at least 1999.
The airport first came under scrutiny in January of this year, after a report discovered police were trained to “run-and-hide” in the event of an attack. In the wake of airport attacks in Belgium and Turkey this year, lawmakers are calling for a change to allow Chicago Aviation Police to carry a defense weapon.
“We are the only airport that allows our police officers to be unarmed while on duty,” Chicago alderman and former police officer Chris Taliaferro told WLS. “Certainly any law enforcement officers – in my 21 years as a police officer I’ve never been taught to run and hide. We’ve always been taught to serve and protect.”
Taliaferro introduced a law to the Chicago City Council that would allow airport police officers at both airports – Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Chicago Midway Airport (MDW) – to carry weapons while on duty. The bill has gained the support of 17 co-signers. However, the proposal is currently sitting in committee, with no vote planned for the near future.
The bill is supported by the Aviation Police union, SEIU Local 73, which calls the current policy of run-and-hide “a recipe for failure.” The union is calling on City Council to pass the bill and allow police officers to be armed for public safety.
In a statement to WLS, the Chicago Department of Aviation noted the Chicago Police are the primary agency in charge during an “active shooter” situation, while Airport Security Officers “…monitor and control access at the secured area perimeter gates; respond to terminal door alarms; and provide vehicular patrol in the secured area for security, traffic enforcement, safety and compliance purposes.”
[Photo: ABC]
oh yes.. give'em guns so that they can kill some people!
a) are pistol is entirely useless against a fully automatic assault rife in the hands of a trained attacker b) it's entirely useless against someone who blows himself up c) it is a needless risk for most of the duties officers are carrying out. A gun can be grabbed and abused too easily by a crazy attacker I think the system in place is much smarter and more realistic - have the armed officers but don't risk their weapons being abused.