News Release
FOR RELEASE
May 2, 2002
RAND ANALYSIS RECOMMENDS STEPS TO PROTECT LOS ANGELES
HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS FROM TERRORIST ATTACKS
A RAND analysis issued today recommends steps government and the private sector can take to better protect high-rise buildings in Los Angeles from a terrorist attack. The analysis was prepared at the request of Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and funded by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association.
The documented briefing was requested last December in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was authored by Rae W. Archibald, Jamison Jo Medby, Brian Rosen and Jonathan Schachter.
RAND conducted literature searches, personal and telephone interviews, and group discussions with a wide range of parties knowledgeable about safety and security in high-rise buildings. The authors also conducted field observations, and drew upon the extensive prior work of RAND staff on terrorism issues.
Here are the key findings of the RAND analysis:
- The possibility that Los Angeles high-rise buildings will be targets of large-scale incidents by international terrorist organizations is real, but relatively small compared with other possible targets across the nation. The threat of smaller-scale attacks involving bombs or other explosive devices, conveyed in a variety of ways, remains real and moderately likely. The threat of biological or chemical weapons attacks is less likely.
- There is little a building owner can do to prevent the type of catastrophic events that occurred on Sept. 11, so mitigating the effects of an attack is a paramount concern.
- Most Los Angeles high-rises have instituted enhanced access control and improved perimeter surveillance, and many have increased security personnel. Some buildings are attempting to capitalize on new technology, but a "security standard" has not yet emerged.
- Emergency preparedness plans need to be reviewed, and may have to be revised. Occupants and tenants have to play a role in their safety, and education and training will likely need to be more intensive and frequent than in the past.
The RAND authors suggest the following potential roles for government:
- More actively coordinate threat assessments.
- Mandate, subsidize, or directly provide more high-rise building occupant education training in emergency preparedness and building evacuation. Also mandate more frequent and comprehensive emergency preparedness drills.
- Make public buildings exemplars of balanced security.
- Provide new regulatory oversight for private security firms, including the possible establishment of guidelines and training for security officers and guidelines for controlled access programs.
- Help establish guidelines and communication channels for reporting suspicious activity.
- Create a "one percent for security" fund, similar to the percent for the arts funds, to promote scientifically sound research and evaluation of security
The authors suggest some possible actions for the private sector in Los Angeles:
- Review evacuation and emergency preparedness plans to ensure they are in accord with lessons learned from the World Trade Center disaster and with state-of-the-art practice.
- Regularly update threat and vulnerability assessments. Every building owner and manager should ask the question: "Why might my building specifically be a target?"
- Emphasize plans to respond to an incident, including maintaining understandable, established protocols.
- Educate occupants and tenants so they are informed, aware and active. Consider increasing the frequency and realism of drills, and include occupants and tenants as well as staff and early emergency responders (such as firefighters, police officers, utility company emergency staff).
- Formulate "target folders and emergency plans" jointly with the public sector; consider unified, standardized, and computerized data; and make sure building managers and early responders are a part of the process.
- Mix "low-tech" options such as landscaping and smart procedures with high technology security solutions
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