Police Boost Anti-Terrorist Measures on Pier After Suspicious Videtaping

By Gathering Marbet
Special to The Lookout

August 11 -- Police are boosting anti-terrorist security measures at the Santa Monica Pier after obtaining photographs of individuals videotaping the prime tourist destination in a suspicious manner, police officials said Wednesday.

The added measures -- which include surveillance cameras and bomb-sniffing dogs -- are being implemented after a concerned citizen, whose identity is being withheld, turned over the photographs, police officials said.

The pictures, taken at the Pier on July 3, were turned over to police on July 26, shortly after London’s transit system was the target of terrorist bombings, said Police Chief James T. Butts, Jr.

“There has been a possible probing of the Pier by people (possibly) associated with terrorists,” Butts said during a press conference Wednesday. “We take this very seriously.”

The pier is a “soft target,” Butts said, referring to venues that have “no video security, very little uniformed security and can be penetrated from a number of different approaches.”

“This is the first evidence we have heard that somebody has been probing,” Butts said.

The photographs show three men videotaping around the pier, Butts said. The photographer snapped the pictures after noticing that the men -- who were of “Middle Eastern descent” -- were not posing in their own videos.

“Ordinarily when you are vacationing and videotaping to document a vacation you have one or more of the subjects in the picture,” Butts said.

After receiving the photographs, police consulted with the FBI, the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group and the Department of Homeland Security for the State, Butts said.

Authorities determined that the men in the photographs had been “seen and detained in other local communities” and a videotape that they had shot was seized, Butts said.

The Department of Homeland Security visited the pier at the request of police officials and advised them about the physical security improvements that could be made, Butts said.

These measures -- which are currently underway -- include the following:

• Adding four uniformed officers patrolling the Pier
• Improving security of venues and observation posts
• Increasing inspection of underwater pilings
• Randomly checking vehicles that park and drive on to the Pier and surrounding lots

“These measures are pre-emptive,” said Butts, “and are not to be considered connected to a predestined event.”

Long term security measures will include video surveillance of the Pier and the Third Street Promenade -- with both hidden and visible video cameras -- and acquiring two to four “bomb dogs” with canine handlers, he said.

Bomb dogs cost $5,000 a piece, while hiring a canine handler costs approximately $100,000 a year, Butts said.

The installation of surveillance equipment will cost an estimated $1.1 million, he said. “We envision a police monitor (on duty) at least some of the time,” Butts said.

“This equipment will also allow us to detect crimes in progress and will provide a record of criminal activity,” he said.

Other “physical enhancements of security” are not being released to the public, Butts said.

Police presented the safety measures Tuesday night during a closed City Council session. City officials then met with Bayside District and Pier officials and representatives of major hotels and others businesses located in the area.

Butts said that the changes “will make us different,” but that these differences will set the Pier apart in a positive way, showing visitors that their safety is of utmost importance.

“In recognition of the way the world has changed, we owe it to our visitors to give them the safest destination possible,” said Butts.

Citizens should pay attention to their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior to the Police Department, Butts said.

Police said that the photographer held on to the pictures for more than three weeks, uncertain if they were cause for alarm.

He decided to turn them over after three London underground trains and one bus were bombed by terrorists on July 21.

Judy Rambeau, the City’s spokesperson, says that taking anti-terrorist precautions has already been in the forefront of City concerns.

“We do (terrorist) drills every year, the police and fire department are constantly training.” Rambeau said.

“This gives us the opportunity to look at our security procedures and see how we can enhance them,” she said. “That’s what people are doing across the country.”