LA task force wants high port security

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A high-level government task force released a report Monday urging stricter security measures at the busy seaports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, including background checks on scores of longshoremen and truckers.

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, chairman of the task force, said the recommendations were a response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast and turned up a number of areas in which security at the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors could be improved.

"We recognize that the seaport could be a special target for terrorism," Hahn told the Los Angeles Times. "So we need to do everything we can to ensure the safety of the people who work there, who are passengers on cruise ships, and who live in surrounding communities."

The neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach make up the busiest commercial harbor on the West Coast and are a vital trade link between the United States and Asia. Around 5 million cargo containers are handled on the docks annually as well as tanker cargoes and cruise ship passengers. Customs officials say they are able to inspect only a fraction of the cargo entering the port.

The size of the port complexes, the large amounts of hazardous materials stored in the area, and the amount of around-the-clock activity at the docks caused concerns after Sept. 11 that the ports might be a target for terrorist attacks.

"I asked for the creation of a task force dedicated solely to assessing the vulnerability of the port complex," Hahn said at a news conference Monday.

The task force is made up of officials from the state, local and federal levels as well as representatives of the ports, the shipping industry and the powerful longshoremen's union.

Among their recommendations were more police officers, firefighters and Coast Guard patrol boats assigned to the harbors, as well as the purchase of additional gamma ray imaging equipment to be used by Customs agents to inspect the contents of cargo containers arriving from overseas.

The cost is estimated to run as high as $1 billion, which Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said should be shouldered in part by the federal government.

"We know what security measures need to be funded, and we should do it now," said Harman, who represents the harbor area.

While the task force members agreed that security at the ports needed to be upgraded, a proposal to issue identification cards to the workers and truckers who move freight around the docks has caused some concerns among ILWU leadership.

The identification cards would be issued to new and current dockworkers and drivers to get a better handle on who has access to potentially sensitive areas. The identification cards would include a photograph and fingerprint, and would be issued upon completion of a background check.

Union leaders worry the background information could result in the termination of members who may have had past brushes with the law that were not related to national security.

"There certainly are going to be some kind of checks, and we understand that," said Ramon Ponce de Leon, president of ILWU Local 63. "At the same time, we hope these checks will be broad enough that the workers already working here ... who have paid their debt to society, will be able to continue to work."

City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, the mayor's sister and representative of the Harbor area, said crimes involving arson and bombs would likely be the types of things that would be looked for in a background check.

"I think if someone had a criminal conviction that had to do with fire or bombs, those we would be able to look at, but I can't tell you right now whether that type of thing would be the ultimate sin," said Councilwoman Hahn.

Other task force members have indicated that they were aware of the potential objections to the background checks, however they hoped to have the issue resolved and the identification system in place by July 1.