Firms Add Guards, Beef Up Safety Measures

Security firms are beefing up their staffs at high-profile office buildings, and makers of weapon-detection systems are bracing for a surge in orders after the terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

At high-rises throughout Los Angeles, guards were added to buildings and visitors passed through new screening procedures to deliver packages or see employees.

At Library Tower in downtown Los Angeles, for instance, new safety measures call for visitors to surrender their driver’s licenses and follow other procedures while they are in the 73-story building, the tallest west of the Mississippi.

“We have received total cooperation from visitors and employees--and no complaints,” said Peggy Moretti, a spokeswoman for building manager MaguirePartners.

Minutes after the terrorist attacks in New York, Chris Coffey said calls started pouring into the offices of his Commercial Protective Services in Gardena, which provides guards, video monitoring and other services to governments and businesses in four states.

“Most people simply wanted more security guards on a temporary basis,” he said. “There was pandemonium, with planes still in the sky at the time.”

Weapons-detection makers such as OSI Systems Inc. in Hawthorne, American Innovations Inc. in Spring Valley, N.Y., and PerkerElmer Inc. in Wellesley, Mass., expect business to pick up in the aftermath of the East Coast attacks. But a boom in business right now makes some people uncomfortable.

“You hate to talk about business at a time like this,” said Dennis Kozlowski, chief executive of Tyco International Ltd., the biggest maker of security and fire systems.

But if history is any indication, the rush to boost protection will wane, one security consultant said.

“I think we’re going to see increased security short term, but in the long term, I wonder,” said Philip Jan Rothstein, who runs a security consulting firm in Brookfield, Conn. Inevitably, he said, “people get complacent,” executives move on and new management changes priorities.

More guards and new equipment probably will be needed at airports to enforce new Federal Aviation Administration rules that ban all knives and cutting instruments, allow only passengers in boarding areas and require more surveillance of vehicles near airports.

Calls for equipment are starting to flow into manufacturers such as OSI, one of the larger makers of scanners and X-ray devices used in many government buildings. Just from inquiries in the last two days, OSI expects demand to rise in the next few months for its Rapiscan X-ray products and walk-through metal detectors, said spokesman Sanjay Sabnani.

Security provider Commercial Protective Services was called by existing clients as well as new customers, resulting in several new contracts, Coffey said.

Arden Realty Inc., the Southland’s biggest office building owner and operator, added 18 guards to its taller, more visible buildings and instituted a number of procedures, such as tightening up the receipt of packages.

In the last two days, the West Los Angeles company found two unidentified packages and one briefcase--all in unusual areas of lobbies--and turned them over to the police bomb squad. Neither of the packages nor the briefcase was a bomb, Los Angeles police said.

The company expects to have the added guards on duty until early next week, said Victor Coleman, Arden’s president.

Consultant Rothstein hopes both corporate America and the government will follow through on efforts to beef up security.

“The question,” he said, “is whether a week, a month or a year from now that level of interest will still be there.”

Meanwhile, many Southern Californians are protecting their homes and cars against possible terrorist attacks. For the last two days, they have been crowding surplus stores to buy crank radios, first-aid kits, ready-to-eat military meals and other emergency provisions. They nearly wiped out supplies of gas masks.

“I just sold three gas masks to one lady--one for her car, one for her house and one for her to use for anyone she runs across who might need help,” said Michael Sherman, owner of South Coast Army & Navy surplus store in Newport Beach. “People are worried more about chemical or biological attacks.”

His store has sold about 70 gas masks in the last two days. He said he usually sells about three a day.

The Supply Sergeant in Hollywood even sells toddler-size gas masks. “We’ve sold so many I lost count,” salesman Davis Leiva said. “People come and buy four or five for them and the kids and one for grandma or grandpa.”

U.S. flags also are big sellers, store operators said. Customers are putting flags on cars, trucks and outside homes, they said.

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Times staff writer Lee Romney contributed to this report. Bloomberg News was used in compiling it.