http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=3D3695 Airport won't be shut down Town, county cops will work at airport through ski season. By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo. October 1, 2008 Officials with Jackson Hole Airport, the Town of Jackson and the Teton Coun= ty Sheriff=E2=80=99s Office have come up with the outlines of a plan to pro= vide law enforcement for the airport until April. Airport Director Ray Bishop, Sheriff Bob Zimmer and Town Manager Bob McLaur= in hammered out the initial details of the plan at a private meeting Tuesda= y. The negotiations came after Zimmer said he would pull the badges of the = airport=E2=80=99s law enforcement officers by Dec. 1 over liability issues = and other concerns. According to McLaurin, the plan is a =E2=80=9Cstopgap=E2=80=9D to get the a= irport through ski season. Under the plan, Zimmer and Jackson Police Chief = Dan Zivkovich would provide the airport with law enforcement officers from = their departments to the airport. The officers would fall under the direct = authority of Zimmer and Zivkovich and would be paid by their respective dep= artments. The airport, in turn, would pay the town and sheriff=E2=80=99s department f= or the service. =E2=80=9CWe made some progress in terms of how we=E2=80=99re going to handl= e this problem,=E2=80=9D McLaurin said. =E2=80=9CWe intend to draft, at thi= s point, a memorandum of understanding that is going to spell everything ou= t.=E2=80=9D The memorandum =E2=80=9Cwill give us some time to figure out a = permanent solution,=E2=80=9D he said. A permanent solution could involve attempts to persuade the Wyoming Legisla= ture to give the airport the authority to have its own police officers. Grant Larson, state senator from Jackson, said he is considering legislatio= n that would allow Jackson Hole Airport and other Wyoming airports that fal= l under the scrutiny of the Transportation Security Administration to have = their own police forces. =E2=80=9CThe problem keeps coming up every year or two,=E2=80=9D he said. = =E2=80=9CI thought it might be prudent to get the problem solved once and f= or all.=E2=80=9D Like many Wyoming lawmakers, Larson said he=E2=80=99s been reluctant to exp= and police authority in other instances, like when state parks wanted their= own police. Still, he said, the issue at Jackson Hole Airport isn=E2=80=99= t going away. =E2=80=9CWith the TSA requirements, I think this might be the best solution= ,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CI probably will have a bill prepared. We=E2=80= =99ll see what happens in the meantime.=E2=80=9D Airport can stay open After more meetings, McLaurin hopes to present a plan to the Town of Jackso= n=E2=80=99s elected officials some time in November, he said. Zimmer said h= e was pleased with the negotiations. =E2=80=9CI think it=E2=80=99s great that we have a ... direction,=E2=80=9D = he said. =E2=80=9CWe=E2=80=99ll try and work out the details. We are not go= ing to close down the airport.=E2=80=9D Under the proposed plan, the sheriff=E2=80=99s duties and city police offic= ers would not be responsible for some of the supplemental duties that the c= urrent law enforcement officers at the airport perform, including firefight= ing and testing the friction coefficient on the runway. =E2=80=9CThe current agreement is that Ray Bishop will get to us a list of = duties that he would like to see them perform,=E2=80=9D Zimmer said. =E2=80= =9CThe chief and I will get together and see whether the [duties on the lis= t] are things that we would agree to.=E2=80=9D The proposed plan leaves the future clouded for three law enforcement offic= ers who currently work at the airport under the sheriff=E2=80=99s authority= . Before they started work, the airport=E2=80=99s officers trained at the W= yoming Law Enforcement Academy in Douglas. The officers also have training = as firefighters and emergency medical technicians. McLaurin said it=E2=80=99s up to Zivkovich and Zimmer to decide whether to = add the men to the police force or sheriff=E2=80=99s department. =E2=80=9CIf they=E2=80=99re interested in coming over, there would be a tes= ting process, and the sheriff and the chief would decide if they want to br= ing them on,=E2=80=9D he said. Zimmer said he would consider hiring them as sheriff=E2=80=99s deputies for= Teton County. =E2=80=9CWe would welcome that opportunity to look at them,=E2=80=9D he sai= d. =E2=80=9CI think it=E2=80=99s fair to them.=E2=80=9D Bishop called the fate of the three officers =E2=80=9Cup in the air.=E2=80= =9D =E2=80=9CThat=E2=80=99s one of the open-ended items that we have to take a = look at,=E2=80=9D he said. The sheriff and the police chief =E2=80=9Cwill t= ake a look at them and see if they meet their credentials.,=E2=80=9D he sai= d. =E2=80=9CI still have needs at the airport.=E2=80=9D Bishop called the negotiations =E2=80=9Cconstructive and very helpful.=E2= =80=9D =E2=80=9CIn my mind, there is no doubt that we have a pathway to success on= the first of December,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CThe good news is that we= =E2=80=99ll have an agreement and we=E2=80=99ll continue to serve the publi= c through the airport.=E2=80=9D Teton County Commissioner Andy Schwartz attended the meeting and was positi= ve about its outcome. =E2=80=9CI was pleased, because it sounds like they are going to work it ou= t,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CThat, to me, was the priority.=E2=80=9D Last week, Grand Teton National Park officials declined to provide law enfo= rcement support for Jackson Hole Airport. In August, Sheriff Zimmer wrote B= ishop saying he would no longer certify the airport=E2=80=99s law enforceme= nt officers. Currently, the airport=E2=80=99s three officers work under Zimmer=E2=80=99s= authority as sheriff=E2=80=99s deputies but are paid by, and work for, th= e Jackson Hole Airport Board. The TSA requires a law enforcement presence a= t or near the airport during security screening operations. In a letter dated Aug. 25, Zimmer said he would no longer allow the airport= =E2=80=99s officers to wear the badge of his department as of Oct. 1. =E2=80=9CEven though [the airport=E2=80=99s law enforcement officers] were = not my employees, they had the power to act in the capacity of a sheriff=E2= =80=99s deputy,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CUnder the best of circumstances,= this is not a particularly attractive arrangement from any sheriff=E2=80= =99s perspective. I am not comfortable with my accountability for deputies = over whom I have little or no control.=E2=80=9D Status quo =E2=80=98a mistake=E2=80=99 =E2=80=9COver the course of my tenure as sheriff, I have acquiesced to the = wishes of the airport board in terms of maintaining the status quo,=E2=80= =9D Zimmer continued. =E2=80=9CI was often told that if I removed the deput= y status of those airport board employees, I would be responsible for =E2= =80=98shutting down the airport.=E2=80=99 I begrudgingly agreed to have the= status quo resume. However, maintaining the status quo was a mistake and c= ontinues to be a mistake.=E2=80=9D In a subsequent letter, dated Sept. 11, Zimmer pushed back the date to Dec.= 1. =E2=80=9CPlease know the deadline for removing deputy sheriff status from A= irport Board employees on Dec. 1 is final; there will be no extension after= that date.=E2=80=9D At the airport Sept. 23, Bishop said Wyoming law doesn=E2=80=99t allow airp= orts to certify their own officers like most other states. =E2=80=9CIn my view we should change the law,=E2=80=9D Bishop said. But there was little chance Wyoming lawmakers could enact the law by Dec. 1= . =E2=80=9CThis is a real dilemma for us,=E2=80=9D Bishop said. =E2=80=9CThe = TSA said that on the first of December, we=E2=80=99re going to decertify yo= ur airport. This is a community concern. At the end of the day, it=E2=80=99= s the sheriff=E2=80=99s decision to make. He has control.=E2=80=9D Last week, Zimmer said the primary reason for his decision to terminate the= arrangement was liability. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s a situation that puts all the liability on the county= and all the liability on the sheriff,=E2=80=9D he said. Zimmer had no authority over the officers in terms of demanding training or= participation in other programs. =E2=80=9CWe=E2=80=99ve got to fix this thing,=E2=80=9D Zimmer said. =E2=80= =9CIt=E2=80=99s been broken for the nine and a half years I=E2=80=99ve been= in office. Ray Bishop and the airport board have done absolutely nothing t= o solve this problem.=E2=80=9D Zimmer had offered to incorporate the airport law enforcement officers into= his department and to hire out officers on a contract basis. Officers in t= he department would rotate into the airport on a set schedule. Teton County Sheriff=E2=80=99s Office Capt. Jim Whalen pointed to a 2005 me= morandum of agreement between the department and the airport board. Whalen = said the airport has failed to follow through on a number of conditions in = the agreement, including allowing Zimmer some control over the hiring and s= upervision of the airport=E2=80=99s deputies. The memorandum of agreement also specifies that airport deputies would part= icipate in regular training programs conducted by the department. Both Whal= en and Bishop said that airport deputies have not participated in regular t= raining exercises. Bishop said the training from the sheriff=E2=80=99s department included wor= k with traffic stops and other scenarios that aren=E2=80=99t applicable to = the airport. According to Whalen, Bishop said he didn=E2=80=99t have enough deputies to = pull them away from the airport for training. He said the airport deputies = stopped attending training about a year ago. At the time, Zimmer said he had no choice but to set a deadline. =E2=80=9CUntil I push the issue, it is going to stay the same as it always = has,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99m not shutting down anything down= . This is a liability.=E2=80=9D =0A=0A=0A <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".