Narrative:

I am an ffdo. This morning while checking in at the leo desk at the airport I was second on line behind another leo (law enforcement officer). I overheard the other leo talking with the tsa guy. The leo ahead of me was going to ride my flight. I decided to talk with them right there instead of waiting to do it as they boarded. When I got to the gate I told a gate agent that I was an ffdo and pointed out the other leo to her. While doing the walk around the first officer discovered the potable water was empty. He asked for it to be filled. As departure time approached I went to the jetway to see if the water guy was filling the tank. He was. Since I was now in the jet way there was a gate agent. I asked about the leo's paper work. He had no idea we had a leo. He walkie talkied to someone who clearly had no idea who has to fill out paper work and who doesn't. In this case the leo was with the state police and did have a letter from their supervisor. I saw it back at the check point. The gate agent did know what was supposed to happen and did fix it. He had to go and get the leo to go with him to the jet way to fill out the paper work. I spoke to the leo while we were in the jet way. She had been told at the ticket counter that there was no paper work. Had I not been online behind her at the leo desk I never would have known there was an armed customer aboard my flight. Clearly this was not an oversight on this one flight. The agents don't know what is supposed to happen. That means that every leo that traveled on our carrier though this airport was handled improperly and each flight crew was not notified about having an armed customer. Everything about this violated every fom rule about armed customers. There was no paper work; the leo was not pre-boared; the leo was not introduced to the lead flight attendant and the captain was never notified. This was a total disregard of procedures; safety and common sense. Because hurrying and being on time is more important that doing things correctly. Because the agents have not been trained. Re prioritize so that safety and/or common sense is a higher priority.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier Captain FFDO discovered during preflight that an armed Law Enforcement Officer was on his aircraft. However; the gate Agent; the Captain and Flight Attendants were not notified according to TSA and Company procedures about the armed individuals presence.

Narrative: I am an FFDO. This morning while checking in at the LEO desk at the airport I was second on line behind another LEO (Law Enforcement Officer). I overheard the other LEO talking with the TSA guy. The LEO ahead of me was going to ride my flight. I decided to talk with them right there instead of waiting to do it as they boarded. When I got to the gate I told a gate agent that I was an FFDO and pointed out the other LEO to her. While doing the walk around the First Officer discovered the potable water was empty. He asked for it to be filled. As departure time approached I went to the jetway to see if the water guy was filling the tank. He was. Since I was now in the jet way there was a gate agent. I asked about the LEO's paper work. He had no idea we had a LEO. He walkie talkied to someone who clearly had no idea who has to fill out paper work and who doesn't. In this case the LEO was with the State Police and did have a letter from their supervisor. I saw it back at the check point. The gate agent did know what was supposed to happen and did fix it. He had to go and get the LEO to go with him to the jet way to fill out the paper work. I spoke to the LEO while we were in the Jet way. She had been told at the ticket counter that there was no paper work. Had I not been online behind her at the LEO desk I never would have known there was an armed customer aboard my flight. Clearly this was not an oversight on this one flight. The agents don't know what is supposed to happen. That means that EVERY LEO that traveled on our carrier though this airport was handled improperly and each flight crew was not notified about having an armed customer. Everything about this violated every FOM rule about armed customers. There was no paper work; the LEO was not pre-boared; the LEO was not introduced to the lead Flight Attendant and the Captain was never notified. This was a total disregard of procedures; safety and common sense. Because hurrying and being on time is more important that doing things correctly. Because the agents have not been trained. Re prioritize so that safety and/or common sense is a higher priority.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.