DWP to Improve Training for Guards

Anti-terrorism experts from the Los Angeles Police Department have recommended improved training, equipment and security measures at the Department of Water and Power after examining complaints from guards that the agency was failing to do enough to protect its facilities.

Mayor James K. Hahn announced Tuesday that new training for DWP security officers has begun and said he supports the other recommendations, including the use of computerized key cards for access to sensitive facilities.

“The LAPD ... has developed plans to protect and defend these assets against any catastrophic event, including terrorist attacks,” Hahn said at a news conference.

The assessment was ordered by Hahn after The Times reported in August that an internal survey of DWP security officers found many complained that reservoirs and electric plants were vulnerable to terrorist attack because the department was not adequately screening, training and overseeing the people it hired to guard facilities.

The department has 200 security officers and about 100 additional guards hired under private contracts.

Employees told a researcher hired to assess conditions that keys to sensitive facilities were handed out to security and construction contractors and others without much control.

“They very emphatically stated that almost anyone can get a job as a security officer within [DWP] and that these individuals have automatic access to all facilities and security procedures,” the internal report said. “They stated that water facilities are an especially easy target for infiltration.”

Hahn said Tuesday that the DWP is reevaluating the use of contract guards and is looking at whether to upgrade the status of security officers, who are city employees, to “public safety officers,” a state designation that requires more extensive training and rigorous background checks. The agency is also hiring dozens more security officers to protect its remote power plants and reservoirs, as well as 10,000 miles of transmission lines and 7,000 miles of water pipes.

LAPD antiterrorism chief John Miller said the training that he and his staff are providing to security officers for the DWP, airport and general services department is unique because it uses intelligence data on Al Qaeda tactics gleaned from detained terrorism suspects.

The security officers were trained in how to detect when facilities are under surveillance and were shown videotapes seized from suspected terrorists.

“You improve security by making better security personnel,” Miller said.

Officials said previous background checks, which primarily determined whether an applicant has been convicted of a felony, were insufficient. The more detailed background check recommended by police officials will subject applicants to the higher level of scrutiny applied to LAPD employees.

In addition, the LAPD is assigning one of its own experts to work with a private consultant to do a comprehensive study to determine which DWP facilities are vulnerable.

Henry Martinez, the DWP’s acting general manager, said the LAPD also found the need for improved security technology, including high-resolution cameras and key-card access systems at important facilities.

“There have been some gaps, and it’s just a matter of making changes going forward,” Martinez said.

The agency adopted a plan in 2002 to spend $132 million over five years to better protect DWP facilities. It also plans to appoint an employee to oversee anti-terrorism issues, according to DWP Commissioner Silvia Saucedo.

“We at DWP take very seriously our responsibility to deliver safe, reliable and high-quality water and energy services to every ratepayer in the city,” Saucedo said.