The city of Los Angeles is not ready for a terrorist attack due to a lack of training, equipment and confidence, several Los Angeles Police Department insiders told the NBC4 I-Team.
Some members of the LAPD's Metro Division, tasked with everything from crime suppression to counterterrorism, told the I-Team they are frustrated by what they called the appearance of readiness. Their identities were concealed because they said they fear retaliation.
"It's frustrating we are telling the public we are ready for a terrorist-style attack when we haven't even finished training to how to walk through a door," a source within the division said.
Internal documents show the department transferred more than 200 officers to the Metro Division and provided extensive training in 2014, but the LAPD sources said new officers received minimal training when they were moved. They also said some officers do not feel comfortable firing their police rifles.
"It takes a lot of training for officers to understand what's right to do, and we are just not at that level yet," a source told the I-Team.
Equipment problems include protective vests that do not cover the entire torso, the sources said.
Chief Charlie Beck said he disagrees with what some of the Metro Division officers told the I-Team.
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"They are ready they do have proper training," Beck said. "One percent of 500 Metropolitan Division officers that came to you, and you come and ask the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department is this a divisional problem? And, I'm telling you that I think probably not."
