I came to learn about serving in
a significant commercial and con-
tainer port — the largest container
port in the U.S. — that handles 43
percent of commerce that comes
into the United States. The size,
the scope and the magnitude of the
operation of the port, as well as the
specialized maritime law enforce-
ment, was a great opportunity for
me to expand my professional
understanding of law enforcement
as well as serve in a dynamic,
extraordinary environment of a
very sound, well-respected police
organization
The thing that is very intriguing
and interesting about maritime law
enforcement is, in our setting …
there’s much in terms of a variety
of terminals, transportation hubs,
rail, trucking and the maritime
side. When you look at the num-
bers — about 8. 5 million contain-
ers a year, about 43 linear miles of
waterfront, 7,500 acres with, as of
December, the largest container
ship to have landed in the United
States — it is a significant and
daunting task.
We are providing traditional law
enforcement with patrol operations, criminal investigation, detectives, traffic investigations and
traffic enforcement, as well as the
maritime side, with policing on the
waterways, in the port, with marina operations, dive operations,
sonar mapping of the harbor’s
depths and waterways, checking
for hazards, destructive devices,
handling commercial vessels of significant magnitude as well as the
cruise ship industry.
From a law-enforcement and
counterterrorism perspective, with
the U.S. Coast Guard, FBI,
Customs and Border Protection,
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department,
LAPD, L.A. Fire Department and a
full scope of allied agencies, as well
as intelligence gathering, threat
detection, threat mitigation, threat
response and the responsibility for
the harbor department … it is a
constantly challenging dynamic. It
changes every day.
The largest container ship, the
Ben Franklin, was here Dec. 26, and
remnants of Space-X [Falcon 9 rocket booster] arrived two days ago.
There’s a lot of plates in the air. The
way you successfully manage that is
you have very capable people
around you who are astute and
know the business — the business
of law enforcement and the business
of the port of Los Angeles. They are
here for an entire career providing
specialized law enforcement.
Our typical employee does not go
from agency to agency, division to
division. They come here, they learn
the basics of police work and they
learn the specialized nature of maritime law enforcement, the hazards,
the complexities, the navigational
codes and maritime operations.
You can’t do it alone. Your
strength is in the relationships with
the outside agencies. The Maritime
Law Enforcement Training Center
provides maritime law enforcement
training, from basic boating classes
to advanced boating classes to ship-
boarding operations to tactical train-
ing, vessel operations, navigation
and a variety of things. We are the
only West Coast training facility of
its kind. We host a variety of law
enforcement personnel from munic-
ipal agencies from all over the coun-
try, sheriffs’ departments, federal
agencies.
We provide training platforms for
the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Army
and Coast Guard. It is known as the
premier maritime law enforcement
training facility in the United States.
The Marine Corps does at least two
exercises a year in the port complex.
They use our facilities, we provide
training. They are familiar with our
complex and how to respond to a
significant event, and, along with the
U.S. Navy, do several swift-boat oper-
ations out of Coronado and Camp
Pendleton. The U.S. Army does avia-
tion exercises throughout the port.
I am responsible also for port
pilots. They are the qualified pilots
who bring the ships to berth and
back out to sea. It’s a very dedicated
professional group of highly trained
veteran pilots.
The port police also is responsible for information technology and
cyber security for the port complex.
We provide law enforcement for the
rail lines. We work very closely with
Long Beach’s harbor patrol, the law
enforcement component.
The L.A. side is the most active
container port operation in the U.S.
We work highly collaboratively
with one another. It’s a seamless
relationship.
It takes a very dedicated, core
group of personnel to track not
only intelligence but the day-to-day emerging trends in and about
the complex, whether it’s general
law enforcement or specialized
maritime aspects. It affects millions
of jobs in the United States. It’s a
significant operation. Every day,
driving in and out, I am
impressed by it.
“There’s a lot of plates in the air. The way you successfully manage that is you
have very capable people around you who are astute and know the business —
the business of law enforcement and the business of the port of Los Angeles.
They are here for an entire career providing specialized law enforcement.”
