LAPD TO CHECK Y2K READINESS IN 9-9-99 TEST.

Byline: Phillip W. Browne Staff Writer

Call it a dress rehearsal for Y2K, with some real possibilities of computer crashes.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles police and city emergency preparedness team will be on watch for problems with key computers that could be affected by the date change to 9-9-99.

The LAPD will send more officers onto the streets starting today and city engineers will monitor computers.

No one expects any problems.

``But like Y2K, we don't know for sure what will transpire,'' said Frank Martinez, executive director of the city's Y2K Compliance Office.

While the world will likely emerge unscathed from Thursday's date change, it provides a taste of the uncertainty caused by the millennium bug.

``This date will cause some computers some problems, and it's relatively easy to fix,'' said Dennis Smith, director of supercomputing at the University of Southern California.

``Y2K is a major undertaking, and far more complicated to repair. No one really knows for sure what will happen,'' he said.

The fear is that on Thursday some computers might translate Sept. 9, 1999, into an old computer phrase for: stop. It could cause computers to erase records because ``9999'' also had been used as a file expiration date, experts said.

By contrast, the Year 2000 problem is built into computer program codes and older microchips, but Thursday's date usually exists only in data files.

``It's much easier to repair four sequential digits in a database, than to dive in to millions or billions of lines of programming code,'' Smith said.

Most databases in Los Angeles have been ready for some time.

``We've checked all 147 of the city's mission critical systems like payroll, police dispatching and warehousing, and the problem wasn't even present, so we are not anticipating any significant disruption,'' Martinez said.

Y2K planners and industries are taking advantage of the situation as a test for New Year's Day readiness, when the Year 2000 bug could hit.

``We will have increased officers on the streets,'' said Los Angeles police Officer Robert Eisenhart. ``Command staffers will also do role-playing for New Years Day, using scenarios like rioting in the Valley or a plane crashing into Wilshire Boulevard,'' he said.

Officials also will be testing global communications systems, to monitor areas where the 9-9-99 problem and Y2K would strike first.

And about 30 people will staff the Emergency Operations Center beginning at 8 a.m. today.

``It's a good opportunity for us to use as a training operation,'' Martinez said.

If 9-9-99 causes any problems, it likely to be limited to billing and other business information programs running on older mainframe computers that have been ignored, experts said.

Electric power suppliers will conduct a major drill, beginning tonight to make sure its thousands of workers understand procedures for Dec. 31, said Eugene F. Gorzelnik, spokesman for the North American Electric Reliability Council.

Some banks will spend Thursday testing techniques to spot and report Y2K trouble, while President Clinton's Y2K advisory council will collect status reports. An international Y2K group will monitor other nations, Gorzelnik said.

CRUCIAL DATES

Past and present dates expected to cause problems for computers worldwide:

Jan. 1, 1999 - the first day of the 99th year. A few glitches were reported, including computerized taxi meters failing in Singapore and some medical devices displaying the wrong time and date.

Feb. 4, 1999 - the day most airlines began to book tickets for Jan. 1, 2000. No trouble was reported.

April 9, 1999 - the 99th day of the 99th year. ``9999'' is a stop-program command for some computers. No trouble was reported.

July 1, 1999 - the start of fiscal year 2000 for most states. A few state computers required modifications, but no major disruptions were reported.

Sept. 9, 1999 - or 9-9-99, also a potential stop-program command or database expiration date. LAPD officers will be on heightened alert and the city's Emergency Operations Center will be activated.

Oct. 1, 1999 - the start of fiscal year 2000 for the U.S. government.

Jan. 1, 2000 - known as Y2K or the millennium bug, the day computers might first read ``00'' as the year 1900. Could trigger widespread compute outages with catastrophic effects.

Feb. 29, 2000 - the extra day in the calendar because of leap year. Some computers might not recognize it.

Dec. 31, 2000 - the 366th day of the year. Some computers might not realize it is a leap year.

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