AUDIT COMMITTEE SUMMARY
August 18, 2020
Audit of the San Antonio Airport Police Department Operations
Report Issued July 23, 2020
Audit Objective
Determine if Airport Police operations are managed effectively and efficiently to include compliance with training requirements of the State of Texas and the City.
Background
The San Antonio Airport Police Department (SAAPD) is a standalone law enforcement agency of the City of San Antonio. SAAPD is under the control and management of the San Antonio Police Department’s (SAPD) Chief.
SAAPD officers provide traffic control and enforcement on airport grounds; assist the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at checkpoints; respond to calls for service on airport grounds; initiate arrests for violations of laws and ordinances; and investigate suspicious persons, vehicles, burglaries, robberies, and security door alarms.
The SAAPD is predominantly funded from the Aviation Fund. It’s fiscal year 2020 expenditure budget is $5.3 million.
Scope & Methodology
The audit scope was San Antonio Airport Police Department administration from October 2017 to May 2019 with historical information as necessary. We performed tests of equipment maintenance; inventory; volunteer files; training and employment records for compliance with state, federal, and city requirements; access controls for the SAAPD headquarters building and software systems; and complaints for timeliness of completion.
Conclusions
SAAPD needs to improve its administrative processes to better ensure that personnel receive the required training, equipment and supplies are tracked and maintained, access to information systems is authorized and appropriate, complaints against officers are promptly investigated, the screening process for volunteers is adequately documented, and its standard operation procedures (SOPs) are up-to-date and reflect actual practice.
We made recommendations to the Police Chief to address these issues, including revising the SOPs, enhancing training and personnel files, providing additional storage capability in the Quartermaster’s office, using the inventories to ensure all equipment is maintained, cross-training personnel, purchasing replacement equipment, performing and documenting periodic access reviews, and enhancing spreadsheets and other administrative documentation.
SAAPD Management agreed with the audit findings and has developed positive action plans to address them.