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Y2K safety plan for the District includes special emergency centers staffed by one firefighter and two police officers.

Details of Y2K security plan in District WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 27  D.C. police have a 100-page year 2000 transition plan to provide enhanced security from New Years Eve. Police have spent the past 12 months developing the plan.

Jackie Bensen reports.

NEWS4 HAS LEARNED some of the details of the plan that will soon be made public by District police. The plan includes activating the National Guard and positioning guardsmen at major intersections throughout the District. They will help keep traffic flowing if the power fails and traffic lights go out. As preparations continue for the Millennium Celebration on the National Mall, District officials are still putting the finishing touches on the plan which is said to be one of the most comprehensive public safety contingency plans ever. Those familiar with the plan say it will focus on a series of strategic elements. The first is providing back-up emergency communications at critical sites throughout the city. A total of 127 emergency sites will be operational starting in the evening of December 31. Most will be at fire stations, schools and hospitals. But some will be located inside fast food restaurants. Each will be staffed by one firefighter and two police officers with portable radios. Their assignment will be to take reports about telephone service disruption and electrical power failure. They will not leave the emergency site to handle other duties. The second element will be to monitor and control key intersections in case of an emergency situation or power failure. 163 critical intersections have been identified. The third element will be to provide a strategic police presence at major gatherings. All leave has been canceled and nearly the entire D.C. police department will be on the street during the critical period. In the next day or so, D.C. residents will be told exactly where the emergency center nearest their home is located. Most are within walking distance, or a short car ride, of nearly every home in the city.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 27, 1999

Answers

jess a widdle 3-day storm

-- sit back & watch the wind blow (allaha@earthlink.net), December 27, 1999.

WTF? If there is no real threat of power outages, why are they wasting the NG's time posting human traffic lights across the city? One more example of saying vs. doing.

Friggin hypocrites...

Jes' Thinkin'...

-- Little Pig (littlepig@brickhouse.com), December 27, 1999.

DC has done very little in the way of Y2K remediation. However, in the last 18 months they have taken contingency planning very seriously. It sounds like they are moving forward to implement the initial contingency plans.

-- Robie Wood (robiewood@home.com), December 27, 1999.

Does anyone but me find it strange that there's been narry a word about y2k out of anyone until the past few weeks when suddenly every "expert" known to mankind has come out of the woodwork, BUT, all of a sudden agencies and utilities and oil companies have been working on these problems for years? Years? Nothing said previously. Years?

According to some of these groups they began their checking and fixing in 1863, and have been working hard ever since. Oh, please someone give me a break.

-- Richard (Astral-Acres@webtv.net), December 27, 1999.

Will they (NG in deecee) be under federal command, and wearing those cute little black riot gear uniforms with body armour, or will it be cammies and flashlights to wave cars? And since when has deecee had a NG? It ain't even a state!!! Who will these masked men be????????????

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 27, 1999.

Each will be staffed by one firefighter and two police officers with portable radios. Their assignment will be to take reports about telephone service disruption and electrical power failure.

The local government will spend more money "staffing" a local Taco Bell with cops and firemen for that weekend than most people spent for food preps. This is just weird. I dont even know what I am supposed to feel anymore about anything.....

-- hamster (hamster@myage.com), December 27, 1999.

how absolutely horrifying. HUMAN TRAFFIC LIGHT IN DOWNTOWN DC!!!!!! hope they give them armored cars for protection!!

-- tt (cuddluppy@nowhere.com), December 27, 1999.

Let's see, that's 127 firemen camped out at Donuts-R-Us...so, how many firemen does that leave in DC to fight any fires that might develop during the rollover? Hmmmm....might there be more fires than normal? Hmmm......

-- Norm Harrold (nharrold@tymewyse.com), December 27, 1999.