Feature Stories
Snapshot of Local Counter-Terrorism
by Steve Propes
Lee Cohen
Long Beach resident Lee Cohen, 55, was taking a lunch break walk from his job as a software programmer and decided to try out a new lens he had just acquired.
“There’s an old derelict building the county owns that’s abandoned at 29th and Orange,” said Cohen. “I walk on that property all the
time to take pictures of flowers.”
It was Thursday, Feb. 25 around 2 p.m. “I had a new lens for my camera. I’d been there for 30 minutes taking pictures and was walking out of the parking lot of this abandoned building. I sat down on a K-rail barrier with my feet on the sidewalk. That’s when a black and white pulled up. The officer got out and asked me what I was doing. When I told him, he asked me why I was taking pictures of that office building.”
According to Cohen, “the cop was nervous and had his hand on his gun. I was completely cooperative and gave him my driver’s license. As I was waiting patiently for ten minutes, I finally went up to him and told him I had to get back to work.
“He responded, ‘oh the computer is slow.’
“I asked, did he have probable cause or was I trespassing?’
“He told me, ‘you are being detained because you are a person of interest.’
“I began to walk away, told him, ‘I need to get back to work.’ I knew he had my name and address, so he knew how to find me.
“He grabbed my arm, turned it behind my back and I thought he was about to slam me against his car, but I wasn’t resisting, so I guess he thought better of it. He said, ‘do you want to make a complaint?’
“I said, ‘I don’t know.’
“He called his supervisor in because he thought I wanted to make a complaint.”
That’s when a black and white SUV pulled up. Sgt. Rob Gallagher of the West Division. He realized there was a mistake, no reason for concern. He wanted to explain why the officer stopped me.
“By then, I was in the police car and we entered into a political discussion. I think he wanted me to agree that since things are sensitive these days, ‘don’t you think it’s right that we’re directed to look for suspicious characters?’
“We discussed if this was an appropriate use of resources.” At that point, a call came out about a robbery occurring in the area.
“In that there was a robbery nearby, shouldn’t he be handling that instead of talking with me?
“He said, ‘we have plenty of resources’.”
I still wasn’t allowed to leave. He told me, ‘we had to call in the Counter-Terrorism Unit and he’ll be right by.’
I told him, ‘interview me later, you know how to find me at work’. I had to get back to work. I’d been there 35 or 40 minutes.”
“Finally, an F150 truck pulled up and out got a man with long hair and a beard dressed in a wool shirt and Levis. He looked like Serpico and introduced himself as a detective of Counter-Terrorism unit of the LBPD. His job is to investigate these things, to run them down, knock on their door if necessary and question people about taking photographs. He goes out on all sorts of calls. Most of the time, he catches artists.”
“By the time he got there, he knew I wasn’t a person of interest. He told me, ‘if you’re in a gang area, shooting graffiti photos, you might be questioned. The officer saw you taking pictures, he is directed to question you.’”
I was detained because I was upset. They wouldn’t let me go until I agreed. Then they let me go. I got back to work at 3:40 p.m.” and told his work associates about what had happened.
Now Cohen is concerned he might be on some sort of FBI watch list or do-not fly list and would like to get a copy of the police report.
“The sergeant told me there is a ‘computer call and that’s it.’ I’m going to try to get my record. Will I end up on a watch list?”
Long Beach Police Spokesperson Dina Zapalsk confirmed “patrol officers are directed to question people taking pictures of buildings,” but said no report is filed in a matter like Cohen’s. “There is no report to have. It was just a call.”
“Since 9/11, it’s the kind of thing we’re trying to do. Taking photos is one of the number one signs officers are told to notice. He stopped to check it out. There are times the officer stops someone, which can be referred to the office of Counter Terrorism and some of these stops are probably referred to the FBI.” However, it wasn’t clear if this applied to Cohen’s stop.
As to who might be stopped, “it all depends on what building, where they are, if they’re a group of tourists or taking a single picture of a building. Location is important. If you’re on the port taking pictures, you could be a terrorist and you might require an investigation.”
In the case of Cohen, Zapalski described the site as a “fuel farm in an open and grassy area. Officers are trained to look for suspicious activity.” Just what that means can be “the circumstances, reasonable suspicion the person might be a terrorist. If we don’t do it and something happens, then the public and the press will ask ‘why didn’t the police do anything about it?’”
“Every police department has a unit that deals in those matters,” said Zapalski, who stressed Long Beach is more sensitive than most communities because of oil fields, the port and other vital infrastructure. As a result, “we work in conjunction with the port and with the FBI.”
|