To Protect and to Serve
Jul 05 '02
The Bottom Line What a country. Are we prepared for "Homeland Defense"? I think not.
Yesterday, July 4, I was driving with my brother, en route to Los Angeles International Airport. My brother was leaving for a 10-day vacation in Thailand.
At 11:40 a.m., while listening to the radio, we learn about a shooting that had just been reported at the Tom Bradley Terminal. Well, I knew that we would experience trouble, traffic and delays. Terrorist attacks had been predicted to occur on Independence Day, and both my brother and I knew that a "lock down" situation was imminent.
Just before we wheel into the "horseshoe" that circumnavigates the airport's many terminals, I make a decision to avoid the upper deck (used for departing flights). The news we heard was that the shooting occurred at the El Al ticket counter (upper deck level).
Fortunately, by driving on the lower deck of the horseshoe (the "Arriving Flight" level), I managed to drop off my brother at Northwest Airlines' terminal and make my exit out of LAX before a lock-down of all traffic could be effected. The news reports on the radio began to discuss that people where killed at LAX, that the gunman was shot, and that there was a search at the airport for other suspects.
As I was leaving the LAX area, a few blocks down the road, preparing to turn down Rosecrans... what happens? I am pulled over by the police for not having a current registration tag on my license plate. (The tag was in my glove box, I had neglected it affix it to my rear plate).
Yep... "to protect and to serve." People are shot at the Tom Bradley terminal, and police units in the immediate vicinity were pulling vehicles over for insignificant traffic infractions.
I was not ticketed. But my opinion of the emergency response at LAX was affected by the experience. People are getting shot at the airport. Police officers are focusing some of their assets and efforts on drivers who don't have current tags on their license plates. In the words of the comedian, Yakov Smirnoff, "What a country!"
God bless America.
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Member: Tom Carr
Location: Southern California
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