The Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers’ Association (LAAPOA) recently announced their 2015 leadership. Senior Lead Officer Marshall McClain was overwhelmingly re-elected president.
Now in his fourth consecutive term as president, Marshall points to the Board’s accomplishments on a condensed work schedule for Airport Safety Officers assigned to Ontario, implementation of bilingual pay and advanced pay grades, the addition of new police vehicles and motorcycles to the LAXPD fleet, the removal of LAPD’s motor officers on overtime replaced by a fully staffed LAXPD motor unit and the passage of the Assembly Bill 128 carried by Assemblymember Steven Bradford, which gave LAXPD officers 830.1 PC status as why the executive board was re-elected with a 75 percent margin by the Department’s 400 officers.
830.1 PC status gave LAXPD officers the same authority as other local police agencies and was a critical and decisive victory for the Department’s rank-and-file officers.
However, Marshall points to several issues that the union will continue to focus on going into 2015.
“The men and women of the Los Angeles Airport Police Department deserve equal pay for equal work,” Marshall explains. “This means a retirement plan that’s on par with and currently enjoyed by the LAPD and Los Angeles Port Police officers. LAAPOA will continue fighting for pay and benefits comparable to other 830.1 agencies in the City.”
Marshall also says that increased staffing for public safety, the latest up to date counter-terrorism training, and modern equipment also remain at the top of the list for his officers. In addition, Marshall says that it’s time for the replacement of the Department’s police station, which he says was built around 1950 and is overcrowded and antiquated.
At the top of the union’s list however is ending the illegal diversion of Federal airport revenue, which he says speaks directly too many of the issues facing LAXPD officers.
“The habitual siphoning of dollars away from LAX results in costly federal fines against the city,” says Marshall, “but more importantly it weakens the airport’s ability to sustain itself and provide the appropriate level of safety for the over 150,000 passengers that pass through LAX daily. While Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) clearly has the revenue to do so, it has forgone maintaining the proper LAXPD staffing levels and equipment needed at all three airports; to ensure secure, viable and fully functional airports. The continued mismanagement of federal monies and policing funds is why the city of Los Angeles has been cited by the federal government for revenue diversion more than any other city in the country. In addition, the woeful overpaying for contracted services that could be provided by onsite LAWA employees only creates a larger burden for the airline stakeholders; this increase is passed on to the consumer by way of increased airline fees. Airport police are full-time, on-site, specially trained and dedicated officers committed to the safety of the traveling public, and we want to ensure that they have all the necessary resources to do their jobs to keep the public safe. Ending the diversion of policing funds for non-airport purposes remains a high priority for LAAPOA.”
Airport Police are not paid through any City or State tax dollars and are funded entirely by proprietary airport landing fees and other airport related revenues.
The 2015-2016 LAAPOA Board of Directors also includes: Vice-President Julius Levy, Treasurer Rupert Staine, Secretary Michael Dear, Assistant Secretary Julio Aparicio, LAX Directors Luis Alejandre, Richard Andrade, Andrei Soto, Rodolfo Bojorquez, Ontario Directors Robert Mainwaring, Michael DeSouza and Van Nuys Director Joseph Barrett.
