Airport Police

Ben Godar With the number of officers on the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Police force continuing to rise, Security Director Mike Post believes the facility will be able to stop contracting for outside officers by the end of the year. The airport currently contracts with the Burbank and Glendale police departments for officers to fill its ranks. Authorized to employ as many as 34 officers, Post said the airport has 22 officers. When he was hired to oversee airport security in December 2001, only 12 officers were on the force.

BOB HOPE AIRPORT ? The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority is pursuing alternative law enforcement options that include possibly replacing the existing Burbank airport police force, airport officials said. Airport Authority commissioners in a March 27 closed session directed staffers to study the possibility of contracting with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for airport security, said Lucy Burghdorf, manager of community relations for the airport. Airport staffers have contacted the Sheriff's Department, but details about conversations with the department were unavailable, she said.

For nearly a year, officials have been trying to figure out what to do with Charles Douglas. The 59-year-old owner of Precise Roofing Company in Burbank has been feeding flocks of pigeons since at least September 2010, officials say, which - beyond violating municipal code - has created a major safety hazard for jet airplanes using the nearby Bob Hope Airport as the birds numbers have grown into the hundreds. On average, airport police Commander Allen Schmitt said planes at Bob Hope Airport strike a bird once every two months.

Ryan Carter A former Glendale Police captain will get another a year to continue revamping the airport police department. The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority recently voted to renew the contract of Airport Public Safety Director Mike Post. Post was chosen by the Airport Authority last year to fill the position created to streamline security measures at the airport following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The renewed contract is an endorsement of Post's main goal of bolstering the airport police force, officials said.

Ryan Carter BURBANK AIRPORT -- Handguns, paint ball guns, hypodermic needles, knives, gag items and drugs -- you name it, local airport police have seen or heard it, even after Sept. 11. With the publicity about baggage checks and National Guard patrols at airports since the terrorist attacks, authorities at the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport are sometimes bewildered by the materials people try to pass through baggage checks and screening points.

BOB HOPE AIRPORT — A 47-year-old woman who authorities said tried to smuggle nearly 22 pounds of cocaine through a security checkpoint at Bob Hope Airport is scheduled to appear Oct. 6 in Los Angeles Superior Court. Cecilley Grant, of Queens, N.Y., was transferred to Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, where she has been held in lieu of $1-million bail. Grant pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony counts related to possessing, selling and transferring cocaine after airport police arrested her Sunday, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

During his career with the Burbank Police Department, Edward Skvarna often thought that the then Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport would be a nice place to work. Now that he is chief of the Bob Hope Airport Police Department, he is finding out just how true that is. "If I'm not doing some public service, I don't know what I'd be doing," said Skvarna, who lives in the Santa Clarita Valley. "It's a natural place for me to be." Skvarna was named as the new chief of the 32-member department during a ceremony on Sept.

Ben Godar The attorney representing a developer engaged in a dispute over a crosswalk closure at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport said he plans to ask a judge to throw out tickets issued by airport police. Al Augustini, who represents Zelman Development Co., owner of a private parking lot that borders the airport, said he and five others who have been cited -- including Thousand Oaks city officials -- plan to go before a judge next month to get the tickets thrown out. Augustini said he received a ticket after asking an officer on patrol about the citations being handed out. "He said, 'If you want to know what kind of tickets I'm writing, you're going to have to step off that curb,' " Augustini said.

The FBI is now investigating an incident in which an 18-year-old North Hollywood man allegedly pointed a laser at a private jet landing Thursday night at Bob Hope Airport, and then at the police helicopter sent to find him, officials said. At about 8:45 p.m., the private jet pilot contacted airport police to report being “hit by a green laser twice on approach to the airport,” said Victor Gill, a spokesman for the airfield. Police helicopters from Los Angeles and Pasadena were dispatched to investigate the incident, Gill said.

Witnessing, especially for the first time, someone deal with a violent autistic fit can be jarring, disconcerting and certainly confusing. But when you add a mistaken emergency call for help and police response, the situation can quickly turn volatile. So it was for Don Short and Tamara Mark, who had a less-than-understanding encounter with law enforcement in Hawaii when their autistic 10-year-old son became agitated and had to be restrained. To the public, it looked abusive, so someone called the airport police, who demanded that Don Short release his son - who bit an officer on the knee in the ensuing scuffle.

In court for a pre-trial hearing Friday, attorneys for the man accused of creating an aircraft safety hazard at the Bob Hope Airport by feeding a large flock of pigeons called his arrest an overblown media frenzy stoked by authorities. Attorneys for Charles Douglas, owner of Precise Roofing Co. on Hollywood Way, requested more time in Los Angeles County Superior Court to review transcripts they said they only received this week and to discuss the matter with the Burbank city attorney's office.

Several law enforcement agencies were frantically searching for a 14-year-old autistic boy who wandered out of the Bob Hope Airport Wednesday and boarded a shuttle. Cameron James Smith, who is on medication, was scheduled to depart on a 10:30 a.m. Delta Connection flight, according to airport  spokesman Victor Gill. His mother had taken him to the airport to make sure he boarded safely. He was on his way to a specialized school in Salt Lake City, Utah, Gill said.  But after experiencing a mechanical problem, the aircraft had to return to the gate, where the passengers deplaned, Gill said.

Authorities are searching for a 14-year-old autistic boy who wandered out of the Bob Hope Airport earlier today. Cameron James Smith was scheduled to depart on a 10:30 a.m. flight, but the plane had to return to the gate and the passengers exited the aircraft, officials said. The boy was seen boarding an airport parking shuttle in front of the terminal and he exited the shuttle at the airport's main entrance at Hollywood Way and Thornton Avenue, according to a statement from the airport.

For nearly a year, officials have been trying to figure out what to do with Charles Douglas. The 59-year-old owner of Precise Roofing Company in Burbank has been feeding flocks of pigeons since at least September 2010, officials say, which - beyond violating municipal code - has created a major safety hazard for jet airplanes using the nearby Bob Hope Airport as the birds numbers have grown into the hundreds. On average, airport police Commander Allen Schmitt said planes at Bob Hope Airport strike a bird once every two months.

A 31-year-old man who police said tried to smuggle more than 50 pounds of marijuana in checked luggage pleaded not guilty to felony drug charges Friday. Following his plea in Burbank Superior Court, Clarence Williams, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was taken to a Los Angeles County jail facility, where he is being held in lieu of $75,000 bail. Officers arrested Williams at Bob Hope Airport on Wednesday night after one of his two suitcases triggered an alarm as it passed through screening devices, police said.

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority Police Department purchased a T3 Personal Mobility Vehicle for use at the Bob Hope Airport using $12,000 seized from people caught trafficking drugs, officials said Monday. At a time when holiday crowds can impede speedy movement of police officers, the vehicle enables officers to quickly move through the terminal in short order, said Lucy Burghdorf, the airport’s community relations manager. The T3 runs on clean energy, uses only about 10 cents per day of electricity and can travel up to 25 mph. It is equipped with a Law Enforcement LED emergency lighting package and has a capacity of up to 450 pounds, including the rider and equipment, Burghdorf said.

BOB HOPE AIRPORT — A 47-year-old woman who authorities said tried to smuggle nearly 22 pounds of cocaine through a security checkpoint at Bob Hope Airport is scheduled to appear Oct. 6 in Los Angeles Superior Court. Cecilley Grant, of Queens, N.Y., was transferred to Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, where she has been held in lieu of $1-million bail. Grant pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony counts related to possessing, selling and transferring cocaine after airport police arrested her Sunday, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.