By Mark Edward Nero
The security division of the Port of Long Beach has been awarded $3.4 million in grants to fund ongoing projects that protect the port.
The grants, awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, go toward enhancing port security systems such as physical security equipment and monitoring and detection systems and improving the resiliency of port security systems.
“FEMA’s grant money will help us carry out important security projects and enhance our abilities to work with our security partners at the port,” Long Beach Harbor Commission President Lori Ann Guzmán said in a prepared statement.
FEMA, which is part of the US Department of Homeland Security, offers the grants for port security initiatives, and recipients like the Port of Long Beach must provide at least 25 percent of the cost of the project.
The Long Beach Harbor Department’s security division partners with local, state and federal law enforcement and security and emergency-response agencies including the Long Beach Police and Fire departments, FBI, US Customs and Border Protection and the US Coast Guard.
Security has been a priority at Long Beach, as well as at the adjoining Port of Los Angeles, since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Over the past 14 years, security operations at the port have been enhanced by $136 million in grants received.
