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AAAPO Offers Condolences to Baton Rouge Police and Condemns Recent Attacks Against Law Enforcement

Los Angeles, CA - The American Alliance of Airport Police Officers (AAAPO) offers its condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the three police officers who were killed and the three officers injured in Baton Rouge over the weekend and condemns these senseless attacks. As details continue to emerge, our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Baton Rouge community.

On a daily basis, police officers across the country defend and protect our way of life. However, there is a rising tide of violence targeted towards law enforcement and this horrendous assault against police, the second in as many weeks, must be swiftly and definitively denounced by all, including community leaders, elected officials and those with roles of authority. Lip service is not enough. There must be strong and forceful rejection of the idea that police are the “enemy.” Three lives were lost in Baton Rouge, and five more in Dallas, solely because of the profession they chose to pursue—a job that protects each and every one of us and allows us to enjoy the freedoms we often take for granted. These heroes will not be forgotten by their families, friends, colleagues, or by us.

“The Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers' Association is appalled and saddened by the events that occurred in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It appears, as of now, that the police officers involved were set up and ambushed. While any loss of life is tragic, this mindset of a "purge" or plotting to murder police officers should alarm every single person in this country and not just the hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers that serve with dignity and honor everyday. We ask our political leaders to come together and speak as one united voice and condemn these attacks on law enforcement loud and clearly. Now is not the time to be on the fence or indecisive. The main objective and goal must be safety and security for all people. Everyone must understand, including our elected officials, the enforcement of the law is not merely an idea or concept that can be discussed or utilized sometimes. Without laws a secure and prosperous society cannot exist. Attacks on law enforcement are attacks on our values and on the very concept of what we all must defend against--the eroding of our way of life, of everything good we have come to know and love about this country. We mourn for our brothers and sisters in blue and condemn these cowardly acts of senseless killings. We pray for their families, their departments and the communities they served who also lost protectors. We grieve with Baton Rouge and a thankful nation for their sacrifice,” said Marshall McClain, co-founder of the AAAPO and President of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association.

“The Port Authority Police Benevolent Association is shocked and saddened by the events that are unfolding in Baton Rouge. While the situation is still chaotic we do know police officers are dead. Every decent, law-abiding American should be shaken to their core by the current assault on law enforcement. We ask our political leaders to come together and speak as one in an effort to once again unite this great nation toward the goal of safety and security for all. We also ask these same leaders to unequivocally condemn those who espouse violence as a means to settle their grievances. It should be understood by all, including our elected officials, that law enforcement is not merely a suggestion but the method through which a secure and prosperous society thrives. An attack on law enforcement is an attack on our freedoms as Americans. The blood shed for those freedoms must never be in vain. Our broken hearts cry for all the police officers lost, their families and their departments. But, most of all, our hearts cry for our nation,” said Paul Nunziato, co-founder of the AAAPO and President of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Benevolent Association.

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The American Alliance of Airport Police Officers (AAAPO) is comprised of rank-and-file airport police officers (including many dual police/aircraft rescue firefighters) who stand as the first line of defense against terrorist attacks, hijackings and other criminal activity at our nation’s airports. We seek to promote security and safety for the traveling public, visitors and airport employees by highlighting best practices and identifying areas for improvement and proposed solutions for our nation’s airport security deployment. AAAPO focuses on regulatory issues that promote our efforts to provide the most advanced and cutting-edge service innovations and security processes in our nation and the world. Our organization represents thousands of sworn law enforcement officers across the United States beholden only to this mission. We are unencumbered by neither political nor managerial constraints that would prevent us from promoting sound public safety policy.

The founding members of the American Alliance of Airport Police Officers are comprised of numerous rank-and-file airport police officers from John F. Kennedy International Airport; LaGuardia Airport; Los Angeles International Airport; Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; LA/Ontario International Airport; Newark Liberty International Airport; Van Nuys Airport; Stewart International Airport; and Teterboro Airport.