Airport Security Costs Soaring

The city has spent $3.7 million in the past month to tighten security at Los Angeles International Airport to its highest level since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and the tab stands at nearly $123,000 a day with no end in sight.

The money has paid for overtime work for scores of police officers staffing vehicle checkpoints and patrolling LAX since Dec. 21, when the Department of Homeland Security raised the nation’s security threat index to orange, officials said.

Most of the nation stepped back on Jan. 9 to yellow alert -- the third-highest on the government’s five-level color-coded scale -- but LAX is one of eight airports to remain on heightened alert.

LAX, the world’s fifth-busiest airport, has been targeted by Al Qaeda and is considered California’s No. 1 terrorist target.

The airport’s budget is separate from the city’s general fund, which faces a shortfall this year, and officials believe they can cover the additional security costs from existing airport revenue and a reserve of about $800 million.

Even so, the mounting security costs have prompted city of ficials to call on the Bush administration to reimburse municipalities for costs incurred during orange alerts.

“The feds are not backing up cities when it comes to dollars,” City Councilman Jack Weiss said.

“When we went to orange this last time I knew they were going to stiff us again, and sure enough, they have.”

Weiss suggested that federal officials create an “orange alert fund” to provide “dollar for dollar” immediate repayment of security costs to major U.S. cities.

The Department of Homeland Security has about $146 million to reimburse cities for overtime costs incurred during orange alerts, said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the department.

Cities applying for the money must provide a detailed accounting of their expenditures and are not assured 100% reimbursement, Roehrkasse said.

The $3.7 million for additional LAX security since Dec. 21 represents a fraction of the $104.7 million the city has spent to tighten security at the airport since the 2001 attacks. The federal government has reimbursed about $15.6 million, or 15%, of these costs.

In addition, Los Angeles has been promised about $70.2 million in federal security grants, including $10.7 million for equipment at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to city records.

The money isn’t as much as the city requested, Mayor James K. Hahn said in an interview, but added that it showed that federal officials were “certainly starting to recognize how important it is to protect the assets on the West Coast.”

Hahn said the city could eliminate millions of dollars in police overtime at LAX during orange alerts if it approved his $9-billion airport modernization plan, which would allow LAX to remain at a heightened alert at all times by incorporating additional security into a redesigned facility.

“The war on terrorism will not be won this month, next month or next year,” the mayor said.

“We’re going to be involved in this fight for years to come, and we need to start planning to have the absolute highest security level 365 days a year.”

When the threat level jumped to orange last month, more than 120 Los Angeles police officers were asked to report to LAX on their days off to staff vehicle-inspection checkpoints, according to a report.

Depending on their rank, LAPD officers can make up to $70 an hour working at the airport when it’s on heightened alert, records show.

The California Highway Patrol also provides officers for staffing checkpoints at roads leading into the airport.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX) High cost of higher alert

The Los Angeles airport department is paying $122,812 a day to maintain the “orange” security level at LAX. Under the heightened alert, officers from the Los Angeles and airport police departments work overtime at a cost of $34 to $70 an hour.

LAX orange alert costs (for Dec. 21, 2003, to Jan. 21, 2004)

Personnel Hours Shifts Cost Cost per day per day per day per day per month

LAPD 79 124 14 $96,396 $2,891,880 Airport police 29 68 10 $26,416 $792,480 Total 108 192 24 $122,812 $3,684,360

Source: Los Angeles World Airports * Los Angeles Times