Long Beach Considering Police Takeover of Port Security

By DAVID GREENBERG

Staff Reporter

Long Beach city officials, anxious to increase port security in wake of the terrorist attacks, are considering a proposal that would transfer all three of the city’s non-police security forces under the authority of the Long Beach Police Department.

The security forces, which together employ more than 100 guards, are responsible for protecting the seaport, airport and city parks. But they are not as well trained, or as well paid, as police officers, and they don’t have as much legal authority.

Some Long Beach officials say that having only security personnel guarding the seaport through which a large portion of the local economy flows, and which is considered a potential terrorist target is a mistake that must be fixed.

“It’s extremely important to beef up security at the ports,” said Councilman Dan Baker, author of the proposal. “Tenants and residents at and near the port are concerned. They want to be reassured that it’s safe.”

Police currently send cruiser patrols through the ports and investigate crimes there but they are not stationed at the port.

Transferring port, airport and park jurisdiction to the police department would subject the city’s security guards to higher training requirements and possible reassignment to less-sensitive areas, as well as giving the police department authority to discipline them.

All of this is making security guards and their union representatives uneasy.

“The union has taken the position that, even if the employees are not going to lose their jobs, we are fighting to keep every (port) position,” said Janet Wright, district president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents security personnel.

The proposal would bring changes similar to those instituted in the mid-1990s, when the police department was given jurisdiction over the city’s Marine Patrol unit. A couple years later, police officials attempted to eliminate the 11 Marine Patrol positions and replace them with seven full-time police officers. But that effort was stymied by the union.

“We stopped (the job eliminations) because our union members demanded that we step up to the plate, and we did,” Wright said. “But it could always happen again. I don’t take anything for granted in this job.”

While union officials and security guards have misgivings about being put under the police department’s purview, they concede that the proposal would have an upside.

For years, security personnel have complained to union officials that their firearms training is obsolete and sporadic. Police officers, meanwhile, receive such training every three months.

While Long Beach security guards carry firearms, issue traffic citations and make citizen’s arrests, they are not authorized to conduct investigations or engage in various other law enforcement activities.

“We would have to evaluate each one to see what training level they need and build a training plan for the future to get them up to the level we feel is necessary,” said Police Chief Jerome Lance.

The costs and logistics of putting the city’s security personnel under the police department is being studied by the city’s staff, who will present their conclusions to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Jan. 15.