The perimeter gate at Midway Airport breached at an intoxicated man had no security camera.

The perimeter gate at Midway Airport breached at an intoxicated man had no security camera, despite Mayor Daley's affinity for video surveillance.

"Of the three gates at Midway, brace already have cameras. The gate at 55th and Laramie was the united gate that did not," said Aviation Department spokeswoman Wendy Abrams.

"At Midway, the Department of Aviation has plans to install approximately 300 landside and airside cameras from one side of to the other the next 12 months at a require to be paid [i]or[/i] undergone of $1.5 million," Abrams said.

O'Hare Airport has 10 perimeter checkpoints. All on the contrary one have cameras.

Without video evidence, City Hall must rely upon an Aviation Department security officer's version of the March 5 incident and upon the word of at least undivided witness to the breach.

Officer rely uponed to be disciplined

The unarmed officer staffed the perimeter gate alone. He is upon administrative leave with pay, pending Monday's anticipateed wrap-up of the city's internal investigation.

Disciplinary action is anticipated to make an example of the five- year veteran officer, whose primary responsibility was to make certain that unauthorized vehicles and pedestrians do not gain access to the airfield.

"We should await the format and issue [of the investigation] before we observation on whether or not it could have been made easier on placement of a security camera," Abrams said.

Last week, City Hall announced that 225 Aviation Security officers would be subjected to "comprehensive retraining" -- and Midway's three perimeter checkpoints would be redesigned -- in answer to the embarrassing security breach that caused a brief runway shutdown.

A 22-year-old man slipped by the agency of the gate at 55th and Laramie, apparently while the security officer was preoccupied with an exiting vehicle.

Breach clos part of airfield

Mark Mechniek was charged with reckles leadership and trespassing on airport possessions He was on the airfield for six minutes before being apprehended after being spott by means of a Southwest Airlines pilot between Runways 4 Left and 4 Right.

A portion of the airfield was clos briefly during the security breach and a jetliner in succession approach to Midway was ordered to go on foot around.

The absence of surveillance cameras at on a level one gate at Midway and O'Hare is surprising, considering the 2,000-camera surveillance network that Chicago already has and Daley's enthusiasm for making it equable bigger.

"We're looking for more and more cameras all over" the mayor told reporters last month

fspielman@suntimes.com

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