The Airport Watch program in brief—its objectives and activities

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In short, Airport Watch is a crime prevention program that utilizes local community members (oftentimes, but not always, aviation enthusiasts or “spotters”) as a complementary layer of security and safety awareness in and around the public access areas of airports. The concept functions like a sort of aviation-centric neighbourhood watch, in collaboration with civil aviation management and the law enforcement of jurisdiction. While AW members take part in a number of unique opportunities, there is no financial nor does it confer special privileges of access (unless pre-approved in the form of tours or other activities).

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Airport Watch formed in Ottawa in 1999, as a direct result of innovative efforts by officers in the RCMP and Ottawa Police. The program was designed to include the many frequent visitors to the airport perimeter who enjoy spotting activities, and utilize them as a complementary layer of safety and security—in no way is the group there to supplant existing methods, persons, or procedures. The concept soon expanded across North America, based on the “Ottawa Model” archetype, earning laudatory praise from law enforcement on both sides of the border (including being an official best practice of the RCMP since June 2001). It now maintains active programs from Vancouver to Halifax and Iqaluit to Fort Lauderdale/Miami. In order to mark its 20th year of operations in 2019, OAW has designed an exciting array of aviation-related activities—behind the scenes tours of public and private sector airport tenants, social events with our many partners, and activities at major airshows, like supporting the Safety Teams at Spectacle Aérien de Saint-Hubert (Montreal) in June and Aéro Gatineau in September. On 9 February, OAW members took part in the first such event—an exclusive insider-look at the critical care transport agency “Ornge,” with its hangar facility situated on Alert Road at the Ottawa Airport, which consisted of in-depth tours of its advanced AW139 helicopters and extensive paramedic capabilities.

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Volunteers come from a wide array of professional and personal backgrounds—aviation enthusiasts, active and retired pilots, amateur and professional photographers, active and retired military or law enforcement, former Air Cadets, employees who work in proximity to airport operations, or simply those who wish to contribute to a highly valued crime prevention initiative. Volunteers are vetted by law enforcement, are provided with awareness training, and are equipped with specialized clothing and signage that the member uses on presence patrols. While this varies among the AW groups, such insignia may include door flags (similar to sports team flags), jackets, ball caps, and high-visibility AW vests. There is no schedule or mandated hours—members are encouraged to conduct presence patrols in and around the airport simply by walking or driving at their leisure in public access areas, most often while enjoying aviation spotting activities or taking part in the social/communal aspects thereof. Typically, AW volunteers are afforded the opportunity to meet other community members of similar interest, as well as airport employees and members of the local law enforcement agency, both of whom routinely express their gratitude when they see AW members in and around the airport. In 2018, OAW members provided well over 1000 hours just at the Ottawa Airport perimeter.

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In terms of what AW does in practicality, volunteers “Observe, Record, Report” potential suspicious activity or unsafe issues in and around airports of all sizes. This may include sightings of individuals using hand-held lasers or UAVs in an illegal manner, dumping personal refuse and trash in proximity of the airport, persons acting suspiciously in and around the perimeter, noted suspect aircraft, as well as more mundane, but no less critical, instances of foreign object debris (FOD) inside the perimeter, the presence of large wildlife (both terrestrial and airborne), or damage or theft to infrastructure (gates, fencing, lights, signage, etc.). Should something be spotted, members call into the airport’s Security Operations Centre (SOC) if at Ottawa airport or the RCMP, who would take appropriate action. A crucial aspect of the program is that members never put themselves or others in danger. They are instructed to never confront a potential threat or vulnerability directly, but rather to walk away and call the issue into the appropriate authority. In many cases, the mere presence of AW members can serve as a “soft deterrent” in preventing dangerous or criminal activity.

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Airport Watch as a program built around and with airport partners, can work in airports and aerodromes of any and all sizes. One such reflection of the group’s unique role in crime prevention is our new cooperative effort with the RCMP’s national Coastal/Airport Watch awareness program, under the direction of “O” Division’s Serious and Organized Crime Section. Within this framework, AW members are provided with awareness training and safety information to recognize aircraft possibly being employed illicitly. The RCMP also provide Coastal/Airport Watch documentation to volunteers and are encouraged to circulate this awareness information to the operators of smaller airfields in their respective areas, throughout eastern Ontario. Most such aerodromes are uncontrolled and in close proximity to the US border along the St. Lawrence River valley. The primary objective of this initiative is to assist smaller airport facilities in knowing what to keep an eye out for in terms of persons and aircraft that may be employed in trans-border drug trafficking, or other unlawful activity, and knowing who to report this to. This pilot program has been developed in coordination with the RCMP over the past year, with the hopes of making that cooperation fully rendered throughout all the Canadian AW groups. This initiative also makes it easier for AW members who live outside of the National Capital Region, to participate in nonetheless highly important and appreciated spotter/crime prevention activities, particularly if travel to Ottawa is too far to do on a regular basis.

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