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L.
B. consolidates harbor security
By Kristen Force
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
The Marine Patrol
and Harbor Patrol of Long Beach may be consolidated into one
force overseen by the Police Department in an effort to boost
security along the city’s coast.
City officials are considering the plan after rejecting an
earlier proposal that called for combining the city’s four
nonpolice agencies under police control. Currently four different
city departments oversee the Marine Patrol, Harbor Patrol,
airport security and park rangers.
The issue was sent to two committees for study last week and
was approved by each. The next step is to send the proposal
to the Harbor, Tidelands and Public Safety Committees.
A combined marine and harbor force would put the city in a
better lobbying position for state and federal security funding
for coastal protection, said City Councilman Frank Colonna,
who proposed the latest plan.
“We have the largest municipally-owned marina in the United
States,” said Colonna. “We want to seek greater federal funding
to expand the force and get the equipment and personnel necessary
to maintain such a large port.”
The Port of Long Beach recently received $4 million of a requested
$20 million for security measures in the harbor from the U.S.
Department of Transportation.
Marine Patrol officers were already moved to police supervision
in 1997 from the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department.
The Harbor Patrol is currently under the control of the Harbor
Commission.
Pending the decision of the Harbor, Tidelands and Public Safety
Committees, the Harbor Commission declined to comment on how
it would be affected by the plan.
“The Board of Harbor Commissioners has taken no position on
the latest proposal,” said Fausto Capobianco, director of
communications for the port. “It is difficult to speculate
on all the affects this early.”
Consolidation of the city’s nonpolice security forces has
been suggested several times in the last year. In January,
Police Chief Jerome Lance concluded in a report that the remaining
forces outside Police Department control, including park rangers,
airport security and Harbor Patrol have inadequate or inconsistent
training.
The Police Department supports the proposal but would not
estimate the effects of the combination on security.
“Our chief is obviously not against it,” said LBPD Public
Information Officer Jana Blair.
Colonna is focusing his proposal on updating the policies
and procedures in Long Beach.
“It is good for Long Beach to refine what we do and hopefully
we will create a program for other cities to model after,”
Colonna said. “We have considered the problems with homeland
security and since ports fit into that category, we need to
meet the needs of the changing times.”
Each nonpolice force has officers who carry weapons, but each
has different arrest powers and training requirements ranging
from peace officers, who can make arrests under certain conditions,
to public officers, who have powers similar to parking enforcement
officers.
The main difference between the two types of officers focuses
on the laws of arrest and when the officer is able to carry
a gun.
Colonna said he favors giving limited peace officer status
to the proposed new coastal force.
After the Harbor, Tidelands and Public Safety Committees discuss
the proposal a report will be drafted for a future city council
debate.
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