Tuesday, August 8, 2000 | Print this story
National Guard Is Prepared to
Deploy 3,000 Troops in L.A.
By H.G. REZA, Times Staff Writer
The California National Guard is prepared to deploy
as many as 3,000 soldiers to help quell any civil
disorder during the Democratic National Convention.
In addition to supporting law enforcement, the
troops will assist firefighters in a plan that includes the
use of the Los Alamitos-based Weapons of Mass
Destruction team to combat acts of chemical, biological
or nuclear terrorism.
Maj. Gen. Paul D. Monroe Jr., the Guard's adjutant
general in Sacramento, said the preparations are
precautionary. Soldiers and equipment can be deployed
within 24 hours after they are requested by local
officials, he said.
"The Los Angeles Police Department is running the
security program for the DNC. We were not included
in the [local] planning," Monroe said. "It's felt that they
have enough law enforcement personnel available to
them to handle any problem. But we would be negligent
if we didn't plan for any eventuality."
In preparing for the Democratic convention, the
LAPD will be supported by the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department, California Highway Patrol and
officers from various police departments in nearby
counties. The security teams will include federal agents
assigned to protect Vice President Al Gore and other
officials.
State authorities are still smarting from the 1992 Los
Angeles riots, which caught the Guard unprepared.
Political indecision and lack of coordination in
Sacramento led to delays in mobilizing the Guard, and
some soldiers were sent to riot areas without
ammunition.
This time, Guard officials began preparations in
January. The plan took effect last Friday and will
remain in place through Aug. 18.
"For the past two years, there have been concerns
from the electric utilities regarding a severe drain on the
power system in the summer months. Brownouts are a
very real possibility, as is a heat emergency in the Los
Angeles area," said the 31-page operational plan.
The warning about possible power shortages is
especially timely after the hot weather that has led to
high electrical usage and taxed the state's power grid.
"Nobody can predict what's going to happen,"
Monroe said. "But we prepare for the eventuality in
case we're called."
But preparedness does not mean that soldiers will
be quartered in local armories during the convention.
"We have not been asked to stage forces or to be
prepared that way," Monroe said.
Instead, the Guard's plan said that "on 24 hours
notice [the Guard] . . . will deploy up to three
1,000-person response teams to the Los Angeles area
in support of civilian authority."
The troops probably will assemble at Camp San
Luis Obispo and the Armed Forces Reserve Center in
Los Alamitos and then convoy to Los Angeles.
In 1992, a large number of soldiers were sent to the
Los Angeles riots without locking plates in their M-16
assault rifles, preventing the weapons from being fired
fully automatic. This time commanders were ordered to
have locking plates "installed and functional" by July 31.
Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for
similar stories about: Democratic National Convention,
California National Guard, Public Safety.
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Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times
Click for permission to reprint. (PRC# 1.528.000074269)
National Guard Is Prepared to
Deploy 3,000 Troops in L.A.
By H.G. REZA, Times Staff Writer
The California National Guard is prepared to deploy
as many as 3,000 soldiers to help quell any civil
disorder during the Democratic National Convention.
In addition to supporting law enforcement, the
troops will assist firefighters in a plan that includes the
use of the Los Alamitos-based Weapons of Mass
Destruction team to combat acts of chemical, biological
or nuclear terrorism.
Maj. Gen. Paul D. Monroe Jr., the Guard's adjutant
general in Sacramento, said the preparations are
precautionary. Soldiers and equipment can be deployed
within 24 hours after they are requested by local
officials, he said.
"The Los Angeles Police Department is running the
security program for the DNC. We were not included
in the [local] planning," Monroe said. "It's felt that they
have enough law enforcement personnel available to
them to handle any problem. But we would be negligent
if we didn't plan for any eventuality."
In preparing for the Democratic convention, the
LAPD will be supported by the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department, California Highway Patrol and
officers from various police departments in nearby
counties. The security teams will include federal agents
assigned to protect Vice President Al Gore and other
officials.
State authorities are still smarting from the 1992 Los
Angeles riots, which caught the Guard unprepared.
Political indecision and lack of coordination in
Sacramento led to delays in mobilizing the Guard, and
some soldiers were sent to riot areas without
ammunition.
This time, Guard officials began preparations in
January. The plan took effect last Friday and will
remain in place through Aug. 18.
"For the past two years, there have been concerns
from the electric utilities regarding a severe drain on the
power system in the summer months. Brownouts are a
very real possibility, as is a heat emergency in the Los
Angeles area," said the 31-page operational plan.
The warning about possible power shortages is
especially timely after the hot weather that has led to
high electrical usage and taxed the state's power grid.
"Nobody can predict what's going to happen,"
Monroe said. "But we prepare for the eventuality in
case we're called."
But preparedness does not mean that soldiers will
be quartered in local armories during the convention.
"We have not been asked to stage forces or to be
prepared that way," Monroe said.
Instead, the Guard's plan said that "on 24 hours
notice [the Guard] . . . will deploy up to three
1,000-person response teams to the Los Angeles area
in support of civilian authority."
The troops probably will assemble at Camp San
Luis Obispo and the Armed Forces Reserve Center in
Los Alamitos and then convoy to Los Angeles.
In 1992, a large number of soldiers were sent to the
Los Angeles riots without locking plates in their M-16
assault rifles, preventing the weapons from being fired
fully automatic. This time commanders were ordered to
have locking plates "installed and functional" by July 31.
Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for
similar stories about: Democratic National Convention,
California National Guard, Public Safety.
You will not be charged to look for stories, only to
retrieve one.
News
Politics
Entertainment
music, movies, art,
TV, restaurants
Business
Travel
Classifieds
jobs, homes, cars,
rentals
Sports
Commentary
Shopping
Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times
Click for permission to reprint. (PRC# 1.528.000074269)
