4 HPD officers disciplined after response to explosive device found at Bush Airport
HOUSTON - Four Houston Police officers have been disciplined following the discovery of an improvised explosive device at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, KHOU 11 Investigates has learned.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire acknowledged poor judgement calls were made in the initial police response to the incident, including an officer mistaking the device for a firecracker and handling it in a crowded airport before bomb technicians were called.
"Some poor judgment was used by an individual officer, that is being held accountable," Whitmire said.
The Houston Police Officers' Union confirmed that a lieutenant, two sergeants and the first officer who responded to the scene were transferred from Bush Airport to other assignments. The four also received supervisory intervention, which verbal counseling and retraining.
"Yes, there was a mistake made and it's being reviewed," Whitmire told KHOU 11 Investigates. "It won't happen again, certainly by those individuals."
Official records of the incident show an airport custodian discovered the device while cleaning a restroom in Terminal D. Investigators described it as a red-colored carboard tube, 4 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, with paper stuffed in either end and a fuse coming out of one side.
HPD bomb technicians later determined the device contained a chlorate-based explosive powder described as "violently energetic." If ignited, bomb techs wrote, it could have produced a "loud report, smoke and a pressure wave."
Aviation security expert Larry Wansley reviewed the records obtained by KHOU 11 Investigates and said the officer should never have touched the device.
"There was a lot of not knowing what to do, or there was a lack of coordination, communication," Wansley said.
Wansley said the proper response would have been to secure the area and wait for specialists.
"You don't want to endanger anyone's life," Wansley said. "Cordon it off, make it absolutely secure before you bring in the experts."
The initial officer's actions were not the only concern documented in official records obtained by KHOU 11 Investigates.
Records also detail a lack of direction and guidance involving HPD's command structure as officers worked to determine how to respond to the discovery. A K-9 sergeant criticized command staff after six hours passed before bomb-sniffing dogs began sweeping Terminal D and other areas of the airport.
Whitmire maintained the Houston Airport System operates a "very safe airport," and said the incident has prompted a broader review that will involve multiple agencies.
"You triggered a review that's obviously ongoing," Whitmire said. "We will involve the TSA, the airport administration, and for certain the chief's on top of it, so you've done a good job."
The Department of Homeland Security has not commented on the incident. HPD Chief Noe Diaz also has not spoken publicly about the response. KHOU 11 Investigates has repeatedly requested an on-camera interview with Diaz and was told the chief was not available.
www.khou.com/article /news/investigations /police-officers-dis ciplined-respon 
West-Tex : makes one wonder what the person who stashed the device in the restroom toilet really had intended it for. Hopefully law enforcement is taking a good look thru all the surveilance recordings and combing through the airlines records to identify all individuals who checked in to get their flight ticket.