policing methods work best present problems.

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration

For several years, the FAA has offered a training course for airport police officers at their security training center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or at an off-site training location. The off-site training occurs at various locations within the United States. Based on regulatory mandates concerning law enforcement officer support of air carrier and airport security functions, the course concentrates on FAA regulations as they affect airport policing. Some of the problems with this training include too few course offerings and a subject matter that is restricted to regulations.

Federal Law Enforcement Organizations

In recent years, the FBI has increased its focus on aviation security issues and conducted two interagency training conferences devoted to aviation security for its agents assigned to airports. Agents and aviation industry participants benefit from the open discussions and networking opportunities where they attempt to resolve issues of mutual interest. These enhanced training efforts show the FBI’s growing realization that aviation security issues continue to increase. Given its jurisdictional prerogatives, the FBI’s focus in this area is both timely and necessary.

The U.S. Customs Service also has become interested in aviation security. Although their training seminars primarily address explosives issues, the overwhelming popularity of these courses demonstrates the receptivity toward police officer-based training by U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Aviation Organizations

Many aviation groups have developed training programs for airport police officers. For example, the Airline Reporting Corporation has offered seminars dealing with identification and investigation of airline ticket fraud.3 Additionally, the Air Line Pilots Association, a union representing 59,000 airline pilots employed with 49 U.S. and Canadian airlines, recently developed training in aviation security. 4 Globally, the International Civil Aviation Organization has presented worldwide instruction in a variety of aviation security topics.5

Other Law Enforcement Organizations

In recent years, the Airport Law Enforcement Agency Network (ALEAN) has taken a lead in organizing seminars and meetings and improving communication among airport police departments. ALEAN, formed in 1990, addresses the unique policing problems shared by law enforcement officials responsible for safety and security of the major international airports in the United States.6 ALEAN presented its first class on the introduction to basic airport policing in April 2000, and, due to overwhelming interest, offered another class in November 2000. Further, the Metro-Dade Police Department in Miami, Florida, offers classes in airport-related subjects and posts an airport investigator’s course schedule on the ALEAN Web page.

CONCLUSION

A wide, across-the-board interest regarding training airport police officers exists. The proliferation of training programs entails an understanding of the complexity of airport policing and an attempt to