Coroner Prepares for a Lively Convention

Do they know something we don’t know?

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office is asking employees to defer vacations until after the Democratic National Convention in August.

No, the recent post-Lakers game violence didn’t spark the request. Nor did the thought of all those long, drawn-out political speeches killing people.

“It just seemed prudent of us,” said Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the coroner’s office. “It’s precautionary.”

Craig Harvey, the chief of the coroner’s operations section that includes investigations, autopsies and transportation, made the request before this week’s melees.

Although the prospect of coroners backed up with business is a grim one, they are not the only government workers whose vacations will suffer because of this summer’s convention. Police already have canceled days off, while many city and county government departments are weighing whether they will order their employees to work.

“It truly is an unknown,” said Sheriff’s Department Lt. Sheila Sanchez, who works in the county’s Emergency Operations Bureau. “It’s like the New Year: We knew when it was going to change from ’99 to 2000, but we didn’t know what was going to happen. We planned for the worst and hoped for the best.”

National Spotlight

The Democratic convention, to be held Aug. 14-17 at Staples Center, is expected to draw about 35,000 people to the city. Eighty hotels in the city and county will house delegates, journalists, politicians and others. It will be the first national political convention in the city since 1960, when Democrats nominated John F. Kennedy for president.

City and county officials, knowing that the national spotlight will shine on Los Angeles for that week, said they are taking no chances that protest demonstrations will get out of hand. Hence the coroner department’s decision to remain on duty.

Not that there’s much precedent for that worry. The national political conventions occur every four years, reliably without loss of life.

Still, city and county officials say they want to be prepared.

“Obviously, we’re not anticipating needing them [the coroner’s office], but I think it’s part of the emergency operations plan,” said Frank Martinez, Mayor Richard Riordan’s point man on convention planning.

The Los Angeles Police Department, the lead law enforcement agency overseeing convention security, has told all employees--sworn officers and civilians--to postpone vacations from the end of July until the end of August, said Lt. Horace Frank, a department spokesman.

The Sheriff’s Department is determining how to handle staffing for the convention. The department is responsible for providing “booking teams” in the event of mass arrests, and transportation to Twin Towers Jail. The Sheriff’s Department will provide security for delegates on buses from their hotels to the convention center.

Patrol captains have been asked “to be prudent” in granting deputies time off during the convention, said Capt. Mike Kenyon, who oversees the department’s convention planning group.

“We’re telling them to keep in mind that this is a major event and that we may be responding in some capacity,” Kenyon said.

The Sheriff’s Department also will provide two “tactical response” teams of 75 deputies each in the event that the LAPD requests backup law enforcement support, Kenyon said.

Most of the deputies on the delegates’ buses probably will work on an overtime basis; the department has asked the Board of Supervisors for about $1 million to pay those costs.

City departments that are likely to have either full staffing or workers on call include the transportation, street services and sanitation departments, city officials said.

Riordan has indicated that his staff should stick around this summer and “plan on being supreme volunteers,” said press secretary Peter Hidalgo.

Responding to Emergencies

The city’s Emergency Operations Division will have employees on 12-hour shifts as it coordinates city departments’ responses to potential problems. The county’s Emergency Operations Center also will be activated during the convention to support the city. It will coordinate with the Red Cross, county health services and other agencies that could provide support services, officials said.

While coroners stand by and police beef up patrols, at least one agency is willing to let its people go.

“We’re not going to deny time off,” said Chief Daryl Arbuthnott, the city Fire Department’s spokesman.

“Historically, it’s the peak of our vacation time while the kids are out of school. We’ll increase our daily staffing, but we believe we have the people to do that.”