ORLANDO, Fla. — After an hours-long police standoff with an armed suicidal man at Orlando International Airport, at least one official has promised to add more security cameras at the property.
“We are going to put cameras everywhere,” said Greater Orlando Airport Authority chairman Frank Kruppenbacher.
There have been numerous complaints over the years about “dead zones” at the airport where someone can move unseen by security cameras.
Officers with the Orlando Police Department told Channel 9 that it is currently possible to walk from the parking garage into Terminal A without being seen on camera.
The rental car area at Terminal A was where Tuesday’s incident took place.
One of the reasons that the cameras hadn’t been installed before was because the airport didn’t have the personnel to constantly monitor hundreds of feeds, Kruppenbacher said.
But now, their purpose will not solely be to catch someone before an incident happens, but also to record any incident so police can review it afterward, he said.
“Last year, I was briefed by all the agencies in a closed meeting on security at the airport and to a ‘t,’ everyone said, ‘You are zipped up. Everything is great,’” Kruppenbacher said. “But that is something you are constantly reviewing, so now the issue of cameras has come, in certain areas, (need) service. So, we need to address that issue.”
Kruppenbacher said he was planning to meet with staff about installing the additional cameras, but that a timeline for the upgrades has not been established.