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People passing through Department of Energy land at the Los Alamos National Laboratory are now subject to the same security checkpoints and vehicle searches in use deeper within the lab.
Jack Killeen, the security services division leader, said last week the searches, which use bomb-sniffing dogs, require drivers to step out of their cars and open their glove boxes and trunks to the lab’s Protective Force. They began March 15 at two locations on East and West Jemez roads, and will expand to other points on lab property, according to Killeen.
Security workers will use a random number generator, which will determine the frequency of the searches, such as every third car or 15th car, he said.
Killeen said the searches are similar to ones already done for laboratory personnel. He called the nonpersonnel searches a “judgment call” and said they weren’t in response to a specific security threat, but rather to the potential for a “lone wolf” bad actor, similar to the shooter who allegedly targeted Fort Hood in November 2009.
“This is to make sure we’ve got that element covered,” Killeen said.
Many of the searches will take place near Technical Area 3, which Killeen said is an administrative part of the laboratory with high densities of people.
According to a security brief, drivers who refuse a search must go through West Road or N.M. 4. Lab spokesman Kevin Roark said drivers opting out of a search by the Protective Force won’t be allowed to continue onto the federal property, but instead will be given directions to one of those two roads.
Killeen said drivers selected for a search will be waved over to an area off the road, where a protective service officer will inform the driver of the search. The driver will be asked to open his or her vehicle doors and trunk. He or she will be asked to step out of the vehicle and stand outside while a Protective Force officer leads a bomb-sniffing dog around the vehicle. Killeen said an officer would check the trunk of the vehicle and “obvious things” such as the glove compartment.
These searches will last about three to five minutes, Killeen said.
Killeen said the Protective Force isn’t using drug-sniffing dogs at this point. “Historically, they’ve not proven to have been a whole lot of use for us,” Killeen said.
The brief states that items not allowed on laboratory property can be confiscated by the Protective Force. Those include nongovernment-owned firearms, dangerous weapons and explosives, alcoholic beverages and controlled substances, such as illegal drugs and paraphernalia. If an explosive is detected, the Protective Force will cordon off the area and an explosives team will be called.
Drivers can transport prohibited items on a portion of West Jemez Road, between vehicle access portal post six, which is near the southeast corner of Diamond Drive, and West Jemez Road; on a portion of Diamond Drive; and on the unrestricted portion of Pajarito Road, according to the brief.
Killeen said the Protective Force has the legal authority to conduct the searches because they are federal officers on Department of Energy property.
