Instructions For Unarmed Officers Came From City Aviation Department

The approximately 300 unarmed police officers at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports have been given official instructions to "hide" in an active shooter situation if "evacuation is not possible."

The instructions are included in internal aviation department documents obtained by CNN for an investigative report. The instructions also say that the officers should lock doors, turn off lights, and remain quiet and calm. "We must also ensure that unarmed security personnel ... do not attempt to become part of the response, but could be invaluable to the evacuation efforts," the documents said.

Chicago Police officers assigned to airport duty are armed, and they are the officers that should respond to any active shooter situation, according to the report. But the Airport Police are also trained, sworn officers, and the instruction to run and hide is counter to their training and their oath, said one who requested anonymity for the report.

And, in this era when police officers have become targets simply for wearing a uniform, Miami-based security analyst Wayne Black said that it is "absurd" to send people out in uniforms with badges but not guns.

Chief Richard Edgeworth, the supervisor of the aviation police officers, would not comment for the investigation. Owen Kilmer, deputy communications director of the Chicago Aviation Department, said the department thinks the "multilevel security approach" has "proven effective in stopping and preventing crime while creating a structure that allows for all our law enforcement officials to collaborate easily and effectively."

(Midway airport pictured in file photo)

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