Orlando International Airport’s new terminal will bring millions more passengers to Florida’s busiest travel hub when it debuts next year.
To keep up, the Orlando Police Department plans to hire 40 new officers before construction is completed.
The cops, part of OPD’s new Airport Operations Officer program, will be trained at the airport and work there part-time. With the bustling airport— which saw a record 50-plus-million travelers in 2019 — set to expand, OPD Capt. Isiah White pitched the program after studying a similar model used to boost staffing at Los Angeles International Airport.
“At LAX, just as any other airport throughout the country ... there’s been shortages, as far as law enforcement there," White said. “So what we saw there that they are very effective in [is] being able to bring in additional resources to police the airport. ... So we looked at what they were doing and kind of tweaked it.”
Only officers who already hold law enforcement certification in Florida or participate in training that certifies an out-of-state license can apply. Working 36 hours a week at an annual salary of $44,000, airport operations officers can get benefits such as health insurance, retirement options and representation by OPD’s union in grievances or arbitration.
The officers however can’t work extra duty shifts at businesses other than the airport “without the specific approval of the Chief of Police,” OPD’s union contract states. Those shifts, which include security details at Orlando businesses such as night clubs and hospitals, are picked up by full-time officers who are off duty.
Detective Lionel Santiago, who is in charge of recruiting for the program, said officers from all over the country have shown interest. Some just graduated from the police academy and others are retirees from other departments who still hold their certifications.
“We’re really getting a diverse group of individuals that have previous law enforcement experience in the state of Florida; perhaps they’ve retired,” Santiago said. “We’ve seen individuals that have had careers out of state and come to Florida and now obtained their law enforcement certificate.”
Chief Orlando Rol\u00f3n said interest in the program exceeded his expectations.
“This has actually yielded much more than we anticipated,” he said. “We are gaining so much law enforcement experience and institutional knowledge from other agencies.”
The first 20 recruits come at a cost of $1,144,303, paid for by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which oversees Orlando International and Orlando Executive airport. That bill includes the officers’ salaries and equipment, such as weapons and body cameras. GOAA also pays the bulk of the cost for full-time Orlando officers who currently patrol the airports.
OPD is now on an “expedited mission” to fill those 20 spots before March 30, Santiago said. The recruits must pass the agency’s hiring process for full-time officers, including a written exam; a physical test to determine endurance, strength and firearms proficiency; polygraph exams; a background investigation; and medical and psychological exams.
Those selected will spend their first five weeks working full-time in an orientation program, then the next 10 to 14 weeks on the job in a modified field training program, which takes place solely at the airport.
Rol\u00f3n said airport officers, once hired, will be eligible to move into a full-time patrol position in the future but must re-enter the agency’s regular field training program, which takes place throughout the city.
The remaining 20 airport operations officers will be hired next year as the agency pushes for its goal of 140 sworn officers, including full-timers, working at OIA before the new terminal debuts. That’s about as many officers as are employed by the Sanford Police Department, and more than work for departments in Winter Park, Apopka and Leesburg.
Rol\u00f3n called the program “a blessing from the sky."
“The airport alone is as big as some of those agencies that we have in Central Florida, so we are doing our due diligence to make sure that we are meeting the demand that we currently have and that we foresee coming," he said.
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