Port Security is Better Prepared for Attack

At the Port of Long Beach, the nation’s second-busiest, it was of utmost importance to make dramatic, sweeping security changes after the September 11 terrorist attacks. That being said, the federal government has spent $2.5 billion on a security overhaul at U.S. seaports from Seattle to New Orleans and beyond.

Of the 624 potential terrorist targets in California, the Port of Long Beach was ranked third, according to the California Attorney General’s office. The Port of Los Angeles was ranked sixth, and the Queen Mary cruise ship, docked in Long Beach, was not far behind. 

It has been estimated that a shutdown of the port complex in Long Beach and Los Angeles would cost the U.S. economy an estimate $1 billion a day — and would be sure to cause devastating consequences across the land.

John Pope, manager of Media Relations, said that prior to Sept. 11, Port security focused primarily on theft prevention, and today that has changed entirely.

“Security is an integral part of Port operations and a core priority with hundreds of millions of dollars invested in training and technology,” he said. “Business continuity, or the ability to recover operations as quickly as possibly following a catastrophic event, is another top priority for the Port.”

The Port of Long Beach has received federal security grants — $100 million since 2002 — but has also put an equivalent amount of the Port's own money into the security changes. While grants have been put toward new technology, such as sonar, they aren’t put towards additional staff to operate such equipment. 

“The change in security was due to the fact that we needed to move to an anti-terrorism and anti-disaster stance, as opposed to just basic port security,” Pope said. “We stepped up our efforts to better prepare for catastrophic events and natural disasters. The ports are the lifeline for supplies to get inland and help people — supplies that come from across the country and even world.”

The decade-long transformation brought twenty-four hour monitoring and patrol of Port facilities and waterways, underwater sonar machines, 100 percent radiation screening of trade containers, radio frequency identification of drayage trucks, background checks on truck drivers, dock workers and other port-related employees.

But Pope said the biggest change was the new-found cooperation and coordination among law enforcement agencies in protecting the port complex.

“The Coast Guard is the lead authority, but there are a lot of agencies working in ‘Port Nation,’” he said. “The biggest change, across the board, came with how these organizations are coordinating together to make the Port and essentially the United States safer. Everyone is working together, and that is something that didn’t happen before.”

So, what if federal money runs dry?

The Port spends about $25 million a year of their own money for security operations. And Pope said the Port has made sure that all money going toward funding operations is Port money to ensure sustainability for the long term.

“The majority of the money that came from the federal government was spent on physical structures, like our new, state-of-the-art, Command Center,” he said. “If the federal government cuts back on its funding, the port will have to increase its contributions to the areas affected, but Port officials feel strongly that the effect wouldn’t be grave.”

The Command and Control Center opened in 2009, it was a $21 million project that was mostly paid for with federal grants. Pope said this center brought dramatic change to the Port and how it runs its security operations.

“This is the regional coordination center for Port security,” he said. “Every partner security agency has an office there, this is where everything goes down. The capabilities of the command center are incredible.”

The bottom line, the Port and its officials are confident they are taking strides in the right direction as far as security and preparedness.

“The Port has come along way,” Pope said. “But it will always be a work-in-progress. We are better off in terms of disaster planning and business continuity — and at the same time we remain aware that technology is constantly changing, but so far we are on the cutting edge.”