VIRAL VIDEO HURTS CHANCE CHICAGO AVIATION OFFICERS WILL BE ARMED
Email: fspielman@ suntimes. com Twitter: @ fspielman “IT WASN’T A SHINING EXAMPLE FOR AVIATION SECURITY OFFICERS ON HOWTHEY MIGHT REACT TO FUTURE SITUATIONS, ESPECIALLY IF THEY WERE ARMED.” ALD. MICHAEL ZALEWSKI
Viral video of a man being dragged off a United Airlines flight has virtually snuffed out any chance for city aviation security officers to be authorized to carry weapons, an influential alderman said Monday.
Ald. Mike Zalewski ( 23rd), chairman of the City Council’s Aviation Committee, said Sunday’s embarrassing incident at O’Hare Airport was so “poorly handled from A to Z” that the officers have lost their argument to bear arms.
Zalewski said the aviation officer who is now on a leave of absence had no business getting involved in the incident, let alone boarding the flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky.
It should have been handled by United, O’Hare’s flagship carrier, in the boarding area, before passengers ever boarded the flight, the alderman said. And if the airline needed backup to handle a recalcitrant or unruly passenger, that should have been provided by Chicago Police officers, who were just minutes away when the viral video was taken, Zalewski said.
“It wasn’t a shining example for aviation security officers on how they might react to future situations, especially if they were armed,” Zalewski said Monday. “If it was their judgment that this was going to help their cause, just the opposite happened.”
The city currently spends $ 19million a year for 292 aviation security cops, with annual salaries ranging from $ 50,000 to $ 88,000 after undergoing four months of training. They are not permitted to carry weapons.
Until Monday, a handful of influential aldermen had been pressuring Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans to arm the officers, perhaps by making them part of the Chicago Police Department. That new idea originated with Ald. Edward Burke ( 14th), powerful chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee.
It was endorsed last month by Ald. Chris Taliaferro ( 29th), whose ordinance authorizing aviation security officers to carry weapons has been languishing for months in a City Council committee.