Jul 27, 2006 7:15 am US/Pacific
'24' Realized: SoCal Counter-Terrorism Unit Opens
NORWALK, Calif. (CBS) ―
A Joint Regional Intelligence Center will open in Norwalk Thursday, giving Southern California a tool for a regional approach to combatting terrorism.
The center, which will facilitate investigations into terrorism threats, will be staffed by some 200 federal, state and local law enforcement officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the FBI and the state Office of Homeland Security.
Officers assigned to the center will analyze and investigate terrorist threats in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, law enforcement officials said.
Representatives from the LAPD, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the FBI and other agencies will begin a two-day security conference at USC Thursday with top federal Homeland Security Department officials.
The meeting was planned after police chiefs expressed frustration with what they considered a lack of communication from Homeland Security about possible terror-related intelligence, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
