Security Info Watch, 10 Feb 2010.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department announced on Wednesday that security will be further strengthened at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex in a bid to deter any terror attacks.

The move is aimed at deterring, detecting and stopping potential threats before they materialize at the port complex and affect surrounding populated areas, said Jack Ewell, who is in charge of the project for the Sheriff's Department.

New security measures include a program featuring a ship bristling with cutting-edge technology, a radiation-detecting helicopter and a dog that can sniff out chemical and biological weapons.

"It is equipped with highly advanced radiation and chemical/ biological detection equipment, which allows deputies to remotely screen entire ships for weapons of mass destruction materials while they are under way to the port complex," Ewell said.

The vessel is also equipped with an advanced sonar system, along with an "integrated commercial-grade remotely operated underwater vehicle" capable of depths of up to 3,000 feet.

The screening vessel acquired by the Sheriff's Department carries "the most advanced technology currently available to protect the region," he said.

The way the 55-foot so-called screening vessel is equipped makes it "the first of its kind in the world," while the dog is the only one of its kind in the nation, according to a department statement.

"The port complex is one of the most critical infrastructures in the United States," Ewell said.

"It is the largest and the busiest container port in the U.S., with 40 percent of all U.S. imports coming through the port complex. It is estimated that it would cost the U.S. economy 1 billion dollars a day if the port complex was shut down by an incident," he said.

The department, Ewell said, will work in conjunction with the U. S. Coast Guard in implementing the new program, which will involve sending teams to board and search ships bound for the port complex.

The boarding teams include explosives experts using portable detection equipment, members of the sheriff's SWAT team, and explosive-detecting dogs. Also assigned to the vessel is a dog trained to detect agents used to create chemical and biological weapons, Ewell said, calling the animal "the only canine with this capability in the United States."

The search teams will inspect ships for conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction, including "radiological and chemical/biological devices and their precursors," Ewell said.

"Once the ships have been inspected, they are cleared to enter the port complex, where additional security measures are in place by port security officials," he said.

Also deployed as part of the new measures is a Eurocopter AS350B2 helicopter equipped with an advanced radiation-detection pod that allows for remote screening of ships for radioactive materials.

"Combined, the deployment of these additional resources will greatly enhance the security of the port complex and the region, and continue to make them the safest in the world," Ewell said.

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