By this point, Tidwell said, he hoped the FBI would have 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week electronic surveillance on anyone associated with the warehouse fire or the Mexican manufacturing facility.
Although public alerts might chase those suspects underground, the situation was dire and growing more so. Residents, the panel concurred, needed to know as much as possible.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday September 06, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 42 words Type of Material: Correction
Terror attack: An article in Monday's Section A about Los Angeles leaders discussing how they would respond to a terrorist attack referred to ricin and anthrax as chemicals. Ricin is a toxic protein, and anthrax is a disease spread by bacterial spores.
"The public," Baca said to nods from his colleagues, "is entitled to protect itself."
*
\o7After that burst of activity, the pace of developments slowed. Over the next three weeks -- minutes in real time -- investigators located what appeared to be another truck geared to disperse chemical agents. Twenty-three suspects, believed to be operating in four cells, were placed under surveillance, continuing to operate despite the national clamor over the threat to Los Angeles. Health authorities were on alert for any signs of poisoning, but so far had no indication that any anthrax or ricin had been released.
\f7
At Animal Services, veterinarians and their assistants were on the lookout for animals that might have come in contact with poison. "They should be our eyes and ears in some respects," Deppisch said.
Plans for animals also loomed in the background of the unfolding public alarm. As Deppisch noted later, more than half of all Los Angeles residents own pets; should an evacuation be necessary, plans must take into account how to move animals or their owners might resist. During Hurricane Katrina, for instance, difficulties locating and moving animals complicated New Orleans' already catastrophic situation.
While Animal Services moved into action, other agencies were similarly on guard, hoping for a break while fending off the rising public clamor. False reports were finding their way to the media, and officials hastened to deliver accurate information, to respond to self-appointed "experts" and to hunt down the missing suspects and chemicals.
On the morning of Day 27, they moved.
*
\o7The FBI, police officers and sheriff's deputies launched raids across the region just before dawn nearly a month after the first indication of trouble. Over the crash of flash-bang grenades and splintered doors, they gathered 32 suspects, including 18 of the 23 who were under surveillance. One more dispersal device was seized, along with a pound or so of chemicals.
