Tighter Public Building Security Sought

Accusing the Wilson Administration of foot-dragging in the wake of attacks on state employees at the work site, Sen. Art Torres proposed legislation Monday aimed at making people safer in public buildings.

The Los Angeles Democrat and representatives of public employee unions said the Wilson Administration has all but ignored State Police recommendations for improving security.

“I’m outraged that so few agencies have acted upon the State Police report,” Torres, a candidate for insurance commissioner, told a news conference where he outlined his proposed Public Building Safety Act.

Kevin Eckery, an Administration spokesman, denied that the recommendations were ignored. “Things are moving forward,” he said, including training employees in being alert to danger and watching out for the safety of one another.

Torres’ announcement was made at the headquarters of the state Franchise Tax Board, where a gunman last year held employees hostage until he was killed by police. Torres also cited the killing of three people Dec. 2 at the Oxnard office of the Department of Employment Development and the subsequent slaying of a policeman. The assailant was killed by police.

The bill would require state and local governments to conduct “risk assessments” of their buildings by Dec. 31, 1996, and establish priorities for making them more secure, including use of bulletproof glass.

The proposal also would put the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration into the business of designing and implementing safety standards in new state buildings.

Additionally, rank-and-file state employees would be added to a group against whom criminal attacks would be more seriously punished. This group already includes elected officials and judges.

Torres noted that after the hostage incident in Sacramento last March, the Wilson Administration ordered the State Police to conduct a detailed security assessment of state facilities. The agency issued a list of recommendations last summer, including beefing up surveillance, alarm and building access systems, and conducting employee security training seminars.

Steve Crouch, health and safety coordinator for the 100,000-member California State Employees Assn., said his union had sought information on the security measures but was told by Administration officials that “everything costs money.”

“They seem to be putting a price tag on safety,” Crouch said. “They are prioritizing: What do you want, ergonomically safe furniture or bulletproof glass?”

But Eckery, spokesman for the State and Consumer Services Agency, said departments are being allowed to hire additional security guards and that relatively low-cost employee self-help training is under way.

“Clearly, money is tight,” he said. “And clearly, you want to do the non-monetary things first.”