New Security Coming To County Airport
All 500 small airports in the state of New York must submit a security plan with the state government and law enforcement agencies by late July in order to comply with terms of the state’s 2004 anti-terrorism law.
New York is the only state in the nation requiring airports to submit security plans, according to state Department of Transportation spokesman Peter Graves. The airports must submit their security plans to the state police, state Homeland Security, and state Department of Transportation.
Graves said that airports must ensure that hangar buildings are locked and that airplanes are double-locked both externally and internally, including hatches and cockpit doors. Saratoga County Airport’s security plan calls for people, cargo, and baggage to be identified and for planes to be locked down.
The airport’s security plan aims to identify “who and what is around the facility,” said county Public Works Commissioner Joe Ritchey, noting that the state would like Saratoga County to establish a neighborhood-watch-style program for the airport.
Existing security measures at Saratoga County Airport include lighting and a sign-in procedure for out-of-town pilots, Ritchey stated. A computer-access gate might also be installed, he added.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Saratogian (NY) Online (06/14/05); Kinney, Jim .