Airport security personnel spend most of their time preparing for active shooter incidents, insider threats and, in concert with the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA), potential terrorist attacks. But on January 28, many of our nation’s largest airports had to handle an entirely different, unaccustomed scenario: mass protests over immigration policy.
“That was an interesting day,” says Mark Hatfield, director of public safety and security at Miami International Airport, who took that position in 2015 after retiring as Deputy Administrator of the TSA. “Of course, it had to be one of the most unusually cold and rainy days in Florida in years – 52 degrees with a light drizzle.”