ANTI-TERROR TRAINING SET FOR POLICE, FIREFIGHTERS.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles police officers and firefighters will be trained to recognize and respond to terrorist threats involving chemical, nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction, under a program approved Friday by the City Council.

An outgrowth of anti-terrorism programs spawned by the 1995 nerve-gas attack that killed 12 people in the Tokyo subway, the First Responder Training Program is being funded in Los Angeles County by a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department, according to Mayor Richard Riordan.

The goal of the program is to develop a training program for line police officers and firefighters ``to help address potential or real acts of terrorism involving weapons or agents of mass destruction in the Los Angeles region,'' Riordan said in a letter to the City Council.

Police officers and firefighters likely will be the first to respond to a call involving terrorism, and they need to be able to recognize possible weapons of mass destruction as well as signs of chemical, biological or radiation poisoning, said Lt. Charles Roper, officer in charge of the LAPD's emergency operations unit.

``These (incidents) historically and traditionally will come out of a `firecall' of unknown trouble,'' Roper said. ``When they respond, hopefully they will be able to recognize some of the initial signs - where you show up and you have dead people and dead animals but no apparent trauma, for instance.''

The officers also will be trained to determine whether the crisis is caused by ``an intentional hazardous materials release'' rather than an accident, Roper said.

Officers and firefighters also will be trained in evacuation procedures.

``They'll be taught to take the appropriate protective measures one can do, distancing oneself from the event, that sort of thing,'' Roper added.

While India and Pakistan both have conducted numerous nuclear weapons tests in the past two weeks, the likelihood of a nuclear bomb being used in a terrorist incident in the United States is ``remote,'' Roper said.

However, Roper said the United States has to be on guard against chemical attacks, such as the cult's release of the deadly nerve gas sarin in Tokyo three years ago, which killed 12 and injured 5,500.

In February of this year, the FBI charged two men with possessing the deadly germ anthrax, but the threat was later determined to be false.

In a city that receives 1,000 bomb threats each year, Roper said the training makes good sense.

He said a Terrorism Working Group of county and city law enforcement and fire officials will develop the training program and a videotape to help police officers and firefighters respond to weapons of mass detruction.