| LAW AND ORDER: THE MAGAZINE FOR POLICE MANAGEMENT September 1999 Agencies Look to Year 2000: Assess Y2K Options by Richard B. Weinblatt (pp. ) |
The impending specter of the year 2000 conjures up memories of the 1992 Los Angeles
area riots for Roy M. Walker. The Long Beach, California, Police lieutenant
is not alone in his concerns. All across the nation, law enforcement executives have taken a
close look at possible Y2K repercussions in their respective communities.
"The difference between the 1992 riots which spilled over into Long Beach and now is;
more cops, more planning and better mobile field force training," reported Walker, the Y2K
response coordinator for the fifth largest police agency in California. "Chief Luman
recognized this problem long ago and committed the appropriate resources to protect the
city. We've spent over a year and $1.5 million on Y2K."
For every expert prognosticating gloom and doom, just as many have predicted that Y2K
will be barely a glitch as the world enters the 21st century. Walker said he has attended
countless meetings where both ends of the spectrum are anticipated by participants.
In interviews with administrators across the country, certain trends in thinking are evident.
Police operated facilities, including computers, are largely deemed to be year 2000
compliant. Agencies do not see the possible computer glitches causing widespread
problems - but rather panic, looting and other activities that react off of or take advantage
of the situation. Public education and back-up plans seem to be the order of the day.
Size seems to be relevant. Larger, more urbanized agencies are gearing up for possible
problems. Smaller departments in more rural settings believe that the impact on their
jurisdictions will be handled in the vein of their usual weather catastrophes and service
interruptions. Minimal complications are anticipated.
However, "This is going to be the largest party in the history of the world and we're
prepared for it on a variety of levels," declared Joe Peach, deputy chief of the Renton
Police Department in Washington. He said his computers, in this suburb of Seattle, have
been tested and are in fine shape. The extensions of that successful testing included the
Meridian phone system, mobile data terminals, recording systems and Motorola radios. The
King County 911 system is being worked on and the Radix Hand Held Ticket Master
for parking tickets has been replaced with a year 2000 compliant device.
Lt. Walker emphasized that the Long Beach Police Department is internally prepared,
having tested its systems and procedures in many areas including dispatch, booking,
computer aided dispatch (CAD) and report managing system (RMS). The radios and
computers have been deemed compliant in all 209 units in Long Beach's fleet of vehicles.
For those concerned with the January 1st milestone, the planning for Y2K has gone beyond
simply checking agency computers for "bugs." A variety of crime prevention, public
education, communications, logistical and community relations issues have been addressed.
A Visible Urban Presence
Cities which, like Long Beach, have been previously rocked by riots, have had a particularly
keen eye towards elements that might see the millennium as an excuse to go amock in the
streets. A common tactic to address the concern has been to alter schedules and cancel
leaves ensuring a visible presence and availability of personnel.
"We have cancelled all days off starting two days before and going to two days after
January first," explained Major Ron Madrid of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department in
Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Overtime pay will figure quite prominently in the expanded staffing plan.
Madrid said that the department will still utilize its customary ten hour shifts. The patrol
division will have all uniformed personnel on duty covering the 2,500 square mile county.
Additionally, all detectives, narcotics agents, DARE deputies and other personnel will be
deployed to the streets. A mutual aid pact has been struck by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's
Department with the Santa Fe Police Department since the more urban setting of the city is
a likely hotspot.
As with its area colleagues; the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department, the Long Beach department is planning a massive rollout of
people and resources for Y2K. All days off, leaves, holidays and vacations have been
cancelled.
The agency with some 900 sworn employees will field all of its enforcement employees on
alternating 12-hour shifts (shift A and shift B) from December 26th through January 5th. "In
addition, we'll be instituting a stage III tactical alert for seven days starting December
29th," Walker said.
Walker said the alert enables the department to have specially trained mobile field forces
available and strategically located throughout the 50 square mile city. The units are
equipped with the latest riot and crowd control equipment courtesy of special Y2K grants
secured by the department's Y2K response office.
Long Beach will field two 56-officer platoons that can be sent to trouble spots in the city or
to assist neighboring agencies.The lion's share of the $1.5 million the department is
spending on Y2K is for the equivalent of three days overtime per officer to cover the duty
schedule. Officers have been advised to secure child care for the duration since they may
have to work straight through if events dictate.
Long Beach sees this time period as a potential major incident as evidenced by the
commitment of resources. Walker himself will be on the street, as will his boss, Commander
Ted Hulsey, who will function as incident commander.
"We will be switching our normal eight-hour and 15-minute shifts to 12-hour shifts. All leave
will be cancelled so that we can have the manpower to address any Y2K problems," said
Officer Tom Berry, a spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North
Carolina. The consolidated Charlotte city and Mecklenburg County law enforcement agency
covers the second fastest growing region in the United States.
"We're going to beef up our people in light of this Friday party which will likely go through
Sunday," said Renton's Peach, who holds a masters degree in public administration. He
indicated that the 86 officer department will increase its on duty complement by 50% for the
time period between December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000. Officers will cover overtime
on a voluntary basis. From Tuesday, December 28th until Tuesday, January 4th, all leave
will be cancelled.
"We expect that calls will increase. The alarm companies tell us that they won't have any
problems, but if there is an interruption of power, we'll probably have to cover those
locations too," Peach said.
Of course all of these officers will be of no use if they can't get from place to place. Fuel
depletion is one problem that could hinder officer response. "We're going to have a tanker
truck with a manual flow in case the (county) gas pumps go down," said Major Madrid.
Long Beach has ensured that they will have supply to get them "through the seven day
critical period." Power to departmental facilities is another concern.
"Our facilities are too old for an automatic kickover system in the event the power goes
out," explained Walker. The main public safety building in Long Beach is 40 years old.
Walker had to secure generators for all Long Beach police facilities including the four patrol
divisions, the academy and the heliport.
Some large cities will be rolling out large amounts of additional manpower, but the
sentiment among many smaller agencies is that all will settle down quickly.
Low Key Rural Approach
A comment by the new police chief in Siska, Alaska, is typical of the response offered by
rural area police executives. "We're used to dealing with stuff on our own, so we'll deal with
this too. In August, the city hosted a statewide Y2K conference and I don't see any major
problems coming our way," said Bill McLendon who retired as a lieutenant from the Euless,
Texas, Police Department to take the chief's post in the southeast panhandle of Alaska.
McLendon explained that the department has 19 sworn officers to cover 4,800 miles (it is
the state's largest borough, Alaska's equivalent of counties). The agency is responsible for
the entire isolated region with no readily available backup.
"We will have at least our minimum staffing which consists of a supervisor and two officers.
They tend to stay in the city and go out into the borough to respond to calls," McLendon
said. "There will be no change in the leave policy. Because of our on-call status, most of
our people are available if we need them."
The Grapevine, Texas Police Department is making some minor adjustments, but they do
not anticipate major problems. "No extra officers will be on duty but we adjusted our leave
policy. There will be no vacations during the last day (of 1998) and first week (of 2000),"
said Detective Bob Murphy, public information officer.
"We don't see Y2K having much impact here," reported W. Bruce Pratt, chief of the St.
Johnsbury, Vermont, Police Department. "We have a self-sufficient mindset. Here in the
Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, as we call the region, we're prepared to deal with winter
emergencies."
Pratt's 11-officer organization is the only 24 hour agency in the area and the chief said they
are ready, having faced inclement weather and other similar adversities previously. The two
square mile city with 7,500 people is located 40 miles south of the Canadian border.
"I think this is going to just blow over," opined Mike Gaddy, chief of the Marshville, North
Carolina, Police Department. The head of the seven officer agency does not expect much
of an impact for his 10 square mile, 2,600 population municipality. He said that he
personally would be working during the time frame to keep an eye on the situation.
In addition to jurisdiction wide patrol problems, many agencies both large and small will
have to contend with potentially volatile crowd situations at New Year's celebrations. Long
Beach is anticipating that an estimated 35,000 people will attend five New Year's Eve
events including the Pine Avenue Celebration. The department's mobilization plan allows
for rapid response of officers into the area if additional manpower is needed.
No street party, however, will have a greater presence than New York City's Times Square.
The NYPD will be deploying a couple thousand officers in the area to keep the peace
among the masses.
A major concern of officials is if communications or power gets disrupted that panic and
more insidious endeavors may take place. Madrid said that he will assign a patrol division
deputy and car outside the Santa Fe County Adult and Juvenile Detention Center. The
county jail is overseen by the sheriff but is operated by a private firm under contract.
"Our dispatch center is on the other side of the city from the detention center. If the phones
go down, we'll have a deputy with a radio there to keep communications open," he said.
The agency will also base deputies at rural Santa Fe County volunteer fire stations so that
people can get nearby reassurance and, if necessary, emergency assistance should
telephone service be disrupted.
Educating the public was a concern of those interviewed as they felt it was important to the
police mission in addressing potential Y2K problems. Ironically, many agencies are using
the Internet to spread their message concerning a problem promulgated by the existence of
computers. The sites assure the public that police related computers have been tested and
are year 2000 compliant.
Renton has a web site dedicated to the event. Memphis also has a web page section
addressing Y2K educational objectives.
Countless meetings have transpired between agency representatives and various
constituencies. Among those groups have been grocer associations, store owners and,
importantly, banking executives.
"We want to educate and work cooperatively with these people," said Madrid who was part
of an area task force on the issue. "We're very concerned with the banks and will assign
detectives to do close patrols of those locations." He added that discussions with banking
executives included the idea of hiring retired officers as on-premises guards.
Renton has a pamphlet available from all police employees that promotes the department's
mantra for the populous to stay calm. "We've anticipated things like a car hitting a
transformer in a motor vehicle accident and the power going out on that street. We want to
get the word out so people know it is not a calamity and panic," Peach said.
Departments are letting citizens know about possible traffic light disruptions and the logical
reasoning behind the malfunction. "The traffic lights might not be phased properly. They
might say Sunday when it's really Monday," Walker said.
Crime prevention may not have as important a role in a potential incident as it does in Y2K.
Criminal activity connected to Y2K has already been identified by law enforcement. Several
agencies reported that burglary rates have already increased as burglars search for
monies withdrawn by Y2K fearful bank customers.
"We're letting people know in Santa Fe County to be careful if they withdraw large amounts
of money. We expect to see armed and strong arm robberies in the parking lots of the
banks," Madrid said.
Deputy Chief Peach echoed Madrid's comments and added that the banks themselves will
become targets as more money is delivered to them by the Federal Reserve System
in anticipation of the increased withdrawals. In addition to the greater presence of cash and
the temptations that creates, Peach said the Renton department has a secondary focus on
fraudulent activities such as credit card fraud and bank fraud.
Whether the dawn of the year 2000 will in fact become a problem that tugs at police
resources is uncertain as experts can't agree on the effects. Law enforcement
administrators with differing opinions as to the impact of the event, have one thing in
common; they have all pondered what actions they should take to prepare.
"If it's like 1992, we'll be able to step up to the plate in Long Beach," said Lt. Walker. "We're
ready for Y2K."
Richard B. Weinblatt, a former officer, teaches criminal justice at South Piedmont
Community College in Polkton, NC.
area riots for Roy M. Walker. The Long Beach, California, Police lieutenant
is not alone in his concerns. All across the nation, law enforcement executives have taken a
close look at possible Y2K repercussions in their respective communities.
"The difference between the 1992 riots which spilled over into Long Beach and now is;
more cops, more planning and better mobile field force training," reported Walker, the Y2K
response coordinator for the fifth largest police agency in California. "Chief Luman
recognized this problem long ago and committed the appropriate resources to protect the
city. We've spent over a year and $1.5 million on Y2K."
For every expert prognosticating gloom and doom, just as many have predicted that Y2K
will be barely a glitch as the world enters the 21st century. Walker said he has attended
countless meetings where both ends of the spectrum are anticipated by participants.
In interviews with administrators across the country, certain trends in thinking are evident.
Police operated facilities, including computers, are largely deemed to be year 2000
compliant. Agencies do not see the possible computer glitches causing widespread
problems - but rather panic, looting and other activities that react off of or take advantage
of the situation. Public education and back-up plans seem to be the order of the day.
Size seems to be relevant. Larger, more urbanized agencies are gearing up for possible
problems. Smaller departments in more rural settings believe that the impact on their
jurisdictions will be handled in the vein of their usual weather catastrophes and service
interruptions. Minimal complications are anticipated.
However, "This is going to be the largest party in the history of the world and we're
prepared for it on a variety of levels," declared Joe Peach, deputy chief of the Renton
Police Department in Washington. He said his computers, in this suburb of Seattle, have
been tested and are in fine shape. The extensions of that successful testing included the
Meridian phone system, mobile data terminals, recording systems and Motorola radios. The
King County 911 system is being worked on and the Radix Hand Held Ticket Master
for parking tickets has been replaced with a year 2000 compliant device.
Lt. Walker emphasized that the Long Beach Police Department is internally prepared,
having tested its systems and procedures in many areas including dispatch, booking,
computer aided dispatch (CAD) and report managing system (RMS). The radios and
computers have been deemed compliant in all 209 units in Long Beach's fleet of vehicles.
For those concerned with the January 1st milestone, the planning for Y2K has gone beyond
simply checking agency computers for "bugs." A variety of crime prevention, public
education, communications, logistical and community relations issues have been addressed.
A Visible Urban Presence
Cities which, like Long Beach, have been previously rocked by riots, have had a particularly
keen eye towards elements that might see the millennium as an excuse to go amock in the
streets. A common tactic to address the concern has been to alter schedules and cancel
leaves ensuring a visible presence and availability of personnel.
"We have cancelled all days off starting two days before and going to two days after
January first," explained Major Ron Madrid of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department in
Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Overtime pay will figure quite prominently in the expanded staffing plan.
Madrid said that the department will still utilize its customary ten hour shifts. The patrol
division will have all uniformed personnel on duty covering the 2,500 square mile county.
Additionally, all detectives, narcotics agents, DARE deputies and other personnel will be
deployed to the streets. A mutual aid pact has been struck by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's
Department with the Santa Fe Police Department since the more urban setting of the city is
a likely hotspot.
As with its area colleagues; the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department, the Long Beach department is planning a massive rollout of
people and resources for Y2K. All days off, leaves, holidays and vacations have been
cancelled.
The agency with some 900 sworn employees will field all of its enforcement employees on
alternating 12-hour shifts (shift A and shift B) from December 26th through January 5th. "In
addition, we'll be instituting a stage III tactical alert for seven days starting December
29th," Walker said.
Walker said the alert enables the department to have specially trained mobile field forces
available and strategically located throughout the 50 square mile city. The units are
equipped with the latest riot and crowd control equipment courtesy of special Y2K grants
secured by the department's Y2K response office.
Long Beach will field two 56-officer platoons that can be sent to trouble spots in the city or
to assist neighboring agencies.The lion's share of the $1.5 million the department is
spending on Y2K is for the equivalent of three days overtime per officer to cover the duty
schedule. Officers have been advised to secure child care for the duration since they may
have to work straight through if events dictate.
Long Beach sees this time period as a potential major incident as evidenced by the
commitment of resources. Walker himself will be on the street, as will his boss, Commander
Ted Hulsey, who will function as incident commander.
"We will be switching our normal eight-hour and 15-minute shifts to 12-hour shifts. All leave
will be cancelled so that we can have the manpower to address any Y2K problems," said
Officer Tom Berry, a spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North
Carolina. The consolidated Charlotte city and Mecklenburg County law enforcement agency
covers the second fastest growing region in the United States.
"We're going to beef up our people in light of this Friday party which will likely go through
Sunday," said Renton's Peach, who holds a masters degree in public administration. He
indicated that the 86 officer department will increase its on duty complement by 50% for the
time period between December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000. Officers will cover overtime
on a voluntary basis. From Tuesday, December 28th until Tuesday, January 4th, all leave
will be cancelled.
"We expect that calls will increase. The alarm companies tell us that they won't have any
problems, but if there is an interruption of power, we'll probably have to cover those
locations too," Peach said.
Of course all of these officers will be of no use if they can't get from place to place. Fuel
depletion is one problem that could hinder officer response. "We're going to have a tanker
truck with a manual flow in case the (county) gas pumps go down," said Major Madrid.
Long Beach has ensured that they will have supply to get them "through the seven day
critical period." Power to departmental facilities is another concern.
"Our facilities are too old for an automatic kickover system in the event the power goes
out," explained Walker. The main public safety building in Long Beach is 40 years old.
Walker had to secure generators for all Long Beach police facilities including the four patrol
divisions, the academy and the heliport.
Some large cities will be rolling out large amounts of additional manpower, but the
sentiment among many smaller agencies is that all will settle down quickly.
Low Key Rural Approach
A comment by the new police chief in Siska, Alaska, is typical of the response offered by
rural area police executives. "We're used to dealing with stuff on our own, so we'll deal with
this too. In August, the city hosted a statewide Y2K conference and I don't see any major
problems coming our way," said Bill McLendon who retired as a lieutenant from the Euless,
Texas, Police Department to take the chief's post in the southeast panhandle of Alaska.
McLendon explained that the department has 19 sworn officers to cover 4,800 miles (it is
the state's largest borough, Alaska's equivalent of counties). The agency is responsible for
the entire isolated region with no readily available backup.
"We will have at least our minimum staffing which consists of a supervisor and two officers.
They tend to stay in the city and go out into the borough to respond to calls," McLendon
said. "There will be no change in the leave policy. Because of our on-call status, most of
our people are available if we need them."
The Grapevine, Texas Police Department is making some minor adjustments, but they do
not anticipate major problems. "No extra officers will be on duty but we adjusted our leave
policy. There will be no vacations during the last day (of 1998) and first week (of 2000),"
said Detective Bob Murphy, public information officer.
"We don't see Y2K having much impact here," reported W. Bruce Pratt, chief of the St.
Johnsbury, Vermont, Police Department. "We have a self-sufficient mindset. Here in the
Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, as we call the region, we're prepared to deal with winter
emergencies."
Pratt's 11-officer organization is the only 24 hour agency in the area and the chief said they
are ready, having faced inclement weather and other similar adversities previously. The two
square mile city with 7,500 people is located 40 miles south of the Canadian border.
"I think this is going to just blow over," opined Mike Gaddy, chief of the Marshville, North
Carolina, Police Department. The head of the seven officer agency does not expect much
of an impact for his 10 square mile, 2,600 population municipality. He said that he
personally would be working during the time frame to keep an eye on the situation.
In addition to jurisdiction wide patrol problems, many agencies both large and small will
have to contend with potentially volatile crowd situations at New Year's celebrations. Long
Beach is anticipating that an estimated 35,000 people will attend five New Year's Eve
events including the Pine Avenue Celebration. The department's mobilization plan allows
for rapid response of officers into the area if additional manpower is needed.
No street party, however, will have a greater presence than New York City's Times Square.
The NYPD will be deploying a couple thousand officers in the area to keep the peace
among the masses.
A major concern of officials is if communications or power gets disrupted that panic and
more insidious endeavors may take place. Madrid said that he will assign a patrol division
deputy and car outside the Santa Fe County Adult and Juvenile Detention Center. The
county jail is overseen by the sheriff but is operated by a private firm under contract.
"Our dispatch center is on the other side of the city from the detention center. If the phones
go down, we'll have a deputy with a radio there to keep communications open," he said.
The agency will also base deputies at rural Santa Fe County volunteer fire stations so that
people can get nearby reassurance and, if necessary, emergency assistance should
telephone service be disrupted.
Educating the public was a concern of those interviewed as they felt it was important to the
police mission in addressing potential Y2K problems. Ironically, many agencies are using
the Internet to spread their message concerning a problem promulgated by the existence of
computers. The sites assure the public that police related computers have been tested and
are year 2000 compliant.
Renton has a web site dedicated to the event. Memphis also has a web page section
addressing Y2K educational objectives.
Countless meetings have transpired between agency representatives and various
constituencies. Among those groups have been grocer associations, store owners and,
importantly, banking executives.
"We want to educate and work cooperatively with these people," said Madrid who was part
of an area task force on the issue. "We're very concerned with the banks and will assign
detectives to do close patrols of those locations." He added that discussions with banking
executives included the idea of hiring retired officers as on-premises guards.
Renton has a pamphlet available from all police employees that promotes the department's
mantra for the populous to stay calm. "We've anticipated things like a car hitting a
transformer in a motor vehicle accident and the power going out on that street. We want to
get the word out so people know it is not a calamity and panic," Peach said.
Departments are letting citizens know about possible traffic light disruptions and the logical
reasoning behind the malfunction. "The traffic lights might not be phased properly. They
might say Sunday when it's really Monday," Walker said.
Crime prevention may not have as important a role in a potential incident as it does in Y2K.
Criminal activity connected to Y2K has already been identified by law enforcement. Several
agencies reported that burglary rates have already increased as burglars search for
monies withdrawn by Y2K fearful bank customers.
"We're letting people know in Santa Fe County to be careful if they withdraw large amounts
of money. We expect to see armed and strong arm robberies in the parking lots of the
banks," Madrid said.
Deputy Chief Peach echoed Madrid's comments and added that the banks themselves will
become targets as more money is delivered to them by the Federal Reserve System
in anticipation of the increased withdrawals. In addition to the greater presence of cash and
the temptations that creates, Peach said the Renton department has a secondary focus on
fraudulent activities such as credit card fraud and bank fraud.
Whether the dawn of the year 2000 will in fact become a problem that tugs at police
resources is uncertain as experts can't agree on the effects. Law enforcement
administrators with differing opinions as to the impact of the event, have one thing in
common; they have all pondered what actions they should take to prepare.
"If it's like 1992, we'll be able to step up to the plate in Long Beach," said Lt. Walker. "We're
ready for Y2K."
Richard B. Weinblatt, a former officer, teaches criminal justice at South Piedmont
Community College in Polkton, NC.
| For contracting of articles, media commentary, or other matters, contact: richard@policearticles.com |
| policearticles.com home of published articles written by Richard B. Weinblatt |
Located just North of Orlando,
Florida, Richard B. Weinblatt
provides professional article
writing services and expert
commentary for the media on a
variety of criminal justice topics
Florida, Richard B. Weinblatt
provides professional article
writing services and expert
commentary for the media on a
variety of criminal justice topics
| FAST FACT "Reserve Reports" by Richard B. Weinblatt, a regular column in LAW AND ORDER: THE MAGAZINE FOR POLICE MANAGEMENT, ran for a decade (1991-2001). |
| FAST FACT Richard Weinblatt's March-April 1997 SHERIFF MAGAZINE article "Sheriffs Take on Rural Patrol Challenge" featured him on the cover. |
| FAST FACT The 250+ page book "Reserve Law Enforcement in the United States" by Richard B. Weinblatt, was published in 1993 |
This website contains criminal justice articles written by former Police Chief and Criminal Justice Professor/Police Academy Manager Richard B. Weinblatt |