LAPD gears up to controll civil order for Y2K

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Updated: Saturday, Jan. 2, 1999 at 18:27 CST

 

 

LAPD gears up for Y2K computer chaos

 

By Deborah Sullivan

c.1999 Los Angeles Daily News

 

LOS ANGELES -- When the clock strikes midnight Dec. 31, 1999, the new

millennium

may start like this: Computers crash, credit cards and ATMs won't work, the

city

goes dark and telephones fall silent.

 

Emboldened by the mayhem and confusion, criminals loot stores, burglars prowl

neighborhoods, thugs take over the streets.

 

Anarchy envelops the city of Los Angeles.

 

Fear not: If the ultimate Y2K nightmare occurs, the LAPD plans to be ready.

 

Los Angeles Police Department officials, taking no chances, have asked the

mayor

and City Council to set aside $4.5 million to keep as many as 300 more officers

on patrol around the clock for a week before and after the turn of the century.

 

"Obviously, we don't want to overreact, nor alarm the public," said Los Angeles

police Cmdr. David Kalish. "However, we simply want to be prepared. Therefore,

we have allocated overtime funds, as a precaution, in case we need that during

the week before or after."

 

The year 2000 meltdown, also known as Y2K, would be caused by a programming

flaw

that would cause some computers, software programs and microprocessors to

interpret the abbreviated date '00 as 1900 rather than 2000. The result could

be

incorrect data processing and equipment malfunctions.

 

If computer networks crash, Los Angeles could go dark, causing traffic jams

beyond anything the city has experienced, tying up officers and causing

unprecedented fear, Y2K experts said.

 

A loss of power would trigger burglar alarms, Kalish said. Meanwhile, real

crooks could capitalize on the chaos.

 

"There is the opportunity for criminal activity, so we have to be prepared for

that," Kalish said.

 

The LAPD leads the region in preparing for possible year 2000 anarchy.

 

"Frankly, we're not expecting any major problems at all, but we are making some

contingency plans," said Sgt. Kevin Krafft of the Burbank Police Department's

high-technology unit.

 

Lt. Lief Nicolaisen, commander of the Glendale Police Department'

special-response team, said he expects technical glitches but no public

upheaval.

 

"We don't anticipate that there's going to be massive civil unrest," he said.

"We expect that some systems might fail. We're prepared to continue to deliver

police service, regardless of any failures that might occur."

 

New York, however, is prepping for the century transition and has set aside a

total of $300 million since 1997 to cover the cost, said Brian Cohen, executive

director of the Y2K project.

 

"My biggest concern is that not only is the city of New York's government

prepared, but that all of the major organizations and entities in New York are

prepared," he said.

 

Unlike Los Angeles, however, New York has no money set aside to pay for police

overtime during the new year of 2000. Cohen said police would make requests for

any overtime needed at a later time.

 

At Recon 1, a disaster preparedness store, co-owner Peter Kalaydjian said that

if his customers are any measure, 2000 will come in with a bang. The store has

sold more than $10,000 in food and gear to some, he said.

 

"Those computers are going to go nuts," he predicted.

 

According to Carl Howe, director of computing strategies at Cambridge,

Mass.-based Forrester Research, the effects of the Y2K bug will not hit all at

once Jan. 1, 2000, but will be spread out over time.

 

"Our view is it's going to feel a little bit like a natural disaster," he said.

"Nobody's going to die because of it. Your phone may not work; you may lose

electric power."

 

Rick Worthington, a professor of politics and public policy at the University

of

Southern California, said people are missing the big picture when they look at

the computer glitch.

 

"The Y2K problem is an example of how our society is overly optimistic about

technology," he said.

 

Not the LAPD.

 

The department is preparing for a long, wild New Year's weekend, regardless of

whether computers and the electric power grid crashes.

 

BC-Y2K-BUG-2ndTake-LADN

 

LOS ANGELES: "grid crashes."

 

New Year's Eve 2000 falls on a Friday night, so celebratory complications like

midnight gunfire and drunk driving may be rowdier than ever.

 

Kalish cautioned that the department is preparing for -- not predicting -- what

New Year 2000 could bring. The overtime allocation would be set aside in

reserve

-- available if needed, but not mandated for use, he said.

 

"We're not expecting these problems," Kalish said. "These are just hypothetical

issues that we're looking at in our preparation, because nobody knows what the

impact of Y2K will be."

 

In addition, the department is asking for $841,000 for computer upgrades for

the

year 2000.

 

The Police Department's year 2000 plan is part of citywide policy by Mayor

Richard Riordan to stem problems before they start.

 

"The city of Los Angeles has taken a proactive approach to Y2K," said Ellis

Stanley, an assistant city administrative officer who heads the emergency

preparedness division.

 

"We have developed a millennium management task force, in which we are reaching

all segments of our community, and we're confident that when Jan. 1, 2000,

rolls

around the city will be prepared."

 

The $100 million effort covers year 2000 upgrades to all city computer systems,

training, workshops and contingency plans for whatever community emergencies

arise, said Frank Martinez, director of the Year 2000 Project.

 

The $4.5 million police overtime package would be added to that budget if it is

approved, he said.

 

Transportation and utilities could be frozen by computer glitches, so the

harbor, airports and utility departments are slated to get 70 percent of the

city's Y2K budget.

 

Power, water and telephone shutdowns could cripple the city if they occur.

 

"The longest Los Angeles has been without power has been 62 hours," during the

1994 Northridge Earthquake, Stanley said. "What happens if we're out of power

for two weeks?"

 

In the case of major water or power failure, Stanley said, looting or hoarding

could ensue. He thinks that's a slim possibility, though.

 

"One of the scenarios some people are painting is if we're out for a period of

time, people would be hoarding food or trying to get supplies from other people

or warehouses," he said.

 

"In good conscience we have to take a look at those scenarios, but I think they

are extreme."

 

State and federal governments are helping cities prepare for the millennial

unknown.

 

Vincent Montane, chief of resource planning for the state Office of Emergency

Services, said the agency is reviewing everything from aircraft safety to

navigation and will conduct eight workshops next summer to train local

government staffs in Y2K emergencies.

 

"Certainly there is a potential if we have weaknesses within our systems, there

are those who certainly will take advantage of those opportunities, and those

are things we have to plan for as well," Montane said.

 

For emergency management specialists, the changing millennium is a dream come

true -- an earth-shaking event they can plan for in advance.

 

"We know when it's coming," said Marc Wolfson, a spokesman for the Federal

Emergency Management Agency in Washington, D.C. "So we can be alert and on

standby to deal with any situations that might occur in which the state and

local governments might need assistance."