Feds Won't Pay for Police at Airports

May 30 -- In an effort to cut costs by an estimated half-million dollars a day, the federal government this weekend will stop paying local police to assign an officer to every airport security checkpoint.

In a memo obtained by ABCNEWS, Transportation Security Administration Contracting Officer Susan Moroni notified sheriffs and police chiefs that in order to "use resources most efficiently and effectively, TSA has decided to ... implement flexible stationing as soon as possible."

On Feb. 20, Congress approved the use of "flexible stationing" — having officers patrol the airport — instead of remaining fixed to one checkpoint.

But local law enforcement officers around the nation say the TSA is making a mistake.

In Broward County, Fla., Sheriff Ken Jenne said the TSA isn't cutting costs, just forcing someone else to pay. Broward is home to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, one of the busiest and fastest-growing airports in the nation.

"It is an unfair burden to place this upon local government," Jenne said.

Jenne said his deputies were needed to resolve more than 7,000 incidents at airport checkpoints between last May and this month — anything from verifying the identification used by another law enforcement officer to dealing with unruly passengers.

Under the new system, a deputy on patrol will be forced to leave his beat to respond to these calls at the checkpoints.

Big and Small Airports Affected

And it's not just big-city airports.

In Boise, Idaho, officers responded to thousands of airport situations in the past year. Now, the police force will have to pay an estimated $160,000 to keep extra officers on patrol — a cost up until now covered by the TSA.

But the federal security agency says removing officers from airport checkpoints, and the agency's budget, is a sound way to save money, while keeping airports secure. "It allows police officers to respond in a proactive way to whatever happens in an airport," said TSA spokesman Brian Turmail.