Los Angeles Webster Commission records, 1931-1992

Thomas Moran, interview, 1992-08-28

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Thomas Moran, interview, 1992-08-28

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Content f l
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CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED
ATTORNEY/CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
DATED: August 28, 1992
TO: Richard J. Stone, General Counsel
FROM: John H. Brinsley, Deputy General Counsel
RE: Abstract of Interview Memorandum of Thomas Moran, Ph.D.
Dr. Moran's interview was educationally significant in
that USC successfully implemented its emergency response plan in
response to the civil disorder. The success of the plan was due in
large part to training drills that are held two to three times a
year and a management culture that divorces decision-making from
policy-making.
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CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED
ATTORNEY/CLIENT COMMUNICATION
AND ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT
TO: Richard J. Stone, General Counsel
FROM: John H. Brinsley, Deputy General Counsel
RE: Interview Memorandum of Thomas Moran. Ph.D.
On August 20, 1992, at 11:00 a.m., I interviewed
Thomas Moran, Ph.D., Vice President of Business Affairs for
the University of Southern California ("USC") in my office
at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. The following is a
summary of my recollections of this meeting, including my
questions and comments, together with my mental impressions,
conclusions and opinions, based upon the meeting.
I began the interview with Dr. Moran by explaining
our charge from Judge Webster. I told Dr. Moran that his
comments and recommendations would be included in a report
to the Commissioner and the public.
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Confidential & Privileged/Attorney-Client & Work Product
My interview of Dr. Moran focused mainly upon
USC's emergency response planning and the unqualified
successful implementation of the plan throughout the civil
disorder.
1. Background Information.
Dr. Moran earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of
Arts in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Moran also earned his Ph.D. at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison.
Dr. Moran began his career with USC in 1979 as the
Executive Associate Vice President for Health Affairs.
Since 1988, Dr. Moran has been the Vice President
for Business Affairs. His responsibilities focus mainly on
campus operations, including, inter alia, campus security,
safety and health management, OSHA safety compliance,
student housing and dining, and campus planning, design and
construction. Dr. Moran has no direct responsibility for
academics, finances or personnel.
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2. Anticipation of Adverse Verdict.
Dr. Moran did not anticipate the outcome of the
King verdict or the civil disorder that followed. Dr. Moran
and his peers, however, did predict that the verdict would
be announced the week of April 26th.
Coincidentally, Dr. Moran's staff held an
emergency response training exercise on campus ten days
prior to the civil disorder. The exercise was not held in
anticipation of the verdicts; it was a regularly~scheduled
exercise focusing on emergency response preparation in the
aftermath of a large-scale earthquake. USC holds these
exercises two to three times each year. See Section 4,
infra, for further discussion of USC's emergency response
planning and implementation.
On April 29th, Dr. Moran had a discussion with his
staff in anticipation that the King verdict would be
announced that day. Following the announcement of the
verdict, at approximately four or five p.m., Dr. Moran and
his Chief of Security, Steven Ward, met to discuss USC's
response plan. They decided not to take any action, but to
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Confidential & Privileged/Attorney-Client & Work Product
be prepared to activate their emergency response plan. Dr.
Moran informed President Steven B. Sample of their course.
3. use Security Operations.
Chief Steven Ward is the head of security for use.
Chief Ward oversees a force comprised of 207 full-time
university security officers. One-third of the officers are
armed; the remainder are community service officers who are
responsible for the safety of the student residents, both on
and off campus.
a. Memorandum of Understanding Between USC and
the LAPD.
USC's security officers operate under the
authority of a Memorandum of Understanding (a copy of which
is attached hereto as Exhibit "A") between USC and the City
of Los Angeles, acting by and through the Chief of Police,
LAPD.
Attached to the Memorandum of Understanding as
Exhibit "A" is General Order No. 2.20 of the USC Security
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Department. The order identifies the geographic area within
which University security officers provide patrol and
response services, as follows:
1. NORTH
2. EAST
3. SOUTH
4. WEST
Adams Boulevard from Vermont to
Hoover Boulevard, north on Hoover
to 23rd Street; and 23rd Street
from Hoover Boulevard to Figueroa
Street
Figueroa Street from 23rd Street south
to Jefferson Boulevard; Jefferson
Boulevard east to Grand Avenue; Grand
Avenue south to 39th Street
Coliseum Drive North from Vermont to
Figueroa Street; 39th Street from
Figueroa Street to Grand Avenue
Vermont Avenue from Adams south to 31st
Street, west to Catalina, south to
Jefferson, east to Vermont, south to
Coliseum.
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Confidential & Privileged/Attorney-Client & Work Product
Memorandum of Understanding; Exhibit A, Page 2, Section A.
Dr. Moran is not satisfied with the Memorandum of
Understanding. USC's security officers provide substantial
services to the city of Los Angeles, in large part because
the LAPD cannot provide sufficient officers and services to
ensure the safety of use students. Yet, the security
officers who provide this service are greatly exposed
because they are not armed. Dr. Moran would like the use
security officers to be deputized. Dr. Moran mentioned that
the University of Pennsylvania security officers are
deputized and enjoy full police powers.
Dr. Moran also is unhappy that USC cannot
participate in investigations where the LAPD is deployed to
USC in the aftermath of an incident requiring police
response. In contrast, UCLA is a state agency, and
therefore has broader powers in such investigations.
4. USC's Emergency Response Planning.
use has hired an emergency response coordinator.
The coordinator has no police background. The coordinator
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worked in the State Office of Emergency Planning and has a
background in responding to earthquakes and other major
disasters.
USC has two fully-equipped on-campus emergency
centers. USC has in effect an A/B plan with provisions to
increase the security officer's 8-hour shifts to 12-hour
shifts, with no vacations. The A/B plan was activated as
part of the emergency response exercise held ten days prior
to the civil disorder.
During the on-campus emergency response exercise
held at USC two days prior to the civil disorder, command
responsibilities were established for campus-wide and
departmental emergency response.
USC's disaster preparation plan takes into account
the civil disorder that would follow in the wake of a major
disaster, such as an earthquake or airplane crash. The
surrounding community, most of which is not student housing,
and includes South Central Los Angeles, would be severely
impacted. Dr. Moran anticipates that a large part of this
community would be without housing, food and water.
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Dr. Moran anticipates that the community will approach, and
perhaps "storm," the campus for assistance. He and his
staff have planned for methods by which to assist the
community members on campus.
Attached hereto as Exhibit "B" is a copy of the
report prepared by Dr. Moran and his staff regarding their
view of USC's response to the Los Angeles civil disturbance.
5. Response to Civil Disorder.
Dr. Moran did not activate USC's A/B plan until
10:00 p.m. on April 29th. The USC security officers
patrolled the campus beginning that evening. Except for
Gate 5, all of the entryways to the USC campus were closed.
On April 30th, all North University Park area
students were evacuated and escorted by trams and security
officers on campus. The evacuation was accomplished in
forty-five minutes. The students were housed in the
gymnasium. USC sent escorted vans to food suppliers to
provide food for the students.
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USC invited the LAPD and the National Guard on
campus to provide them with food.
Two-man teams equipped with fire extinguishers
were stationed at each on-campus building.
A few minor incidents occurred on or near campus.
However, Dr. Moran feels that the civil disorder was not
institutionally-directed, with the exception of Parker
Center.
USC did not call on the LAPD for assistance during
the civil disorder, or vice-versa.
USC escorted the Los Angeles Fire Department
during the disorder; however, although there is a fire
station directly across from the campus, on Jefferson, USC
went without fire department assistance.
USC's implementation of their emergency response
plans was significant because the execution of the plan
worked as expected, without exception. Decisions were
implemented at emergency response centers within minutes.
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This was accomplished due to the fact that USC divorces
policy-making from decision-making, i.e., those in decision
making positions may do so without constraint. Hence, the
decision-makers were able to be flexible in their response
to the unique demands of the situation, thus improvising a
response plan originally oriented to a natural disaster.
6. Recommendations.
a. The City of Los Angeles requires a
substantially-increased police force. The City is
dramatically under-policed. The LAPD is overwhelmed. USC
provides back-up to the LAPD on a substantial amount of
response deployments. USC responds to calls for assistance
in one and a half to two minutes; in contrast, the LAPD
responds to USC's calls for assistance in thirty minutes.
b. The LAPD should implement community-based
policing. The citizens need to take responsibility for
their communities. For example, USC involves students and
staff in their emergency response planning. Students are
educated in personal responsibility and self-protection.
Also, a community tends to know the house that has and/or
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attracts problems, and will get involved before the rest of
the community is harmed by those individuals.
c. As discussed in Section 5 of this memorandum,
the LAPD needs to create contingency plans that allow
persons of authority in a decision-making capacity to
implement their decisions, without the constraining fear of
reprisals.
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Confidential & Privileged/Attorney-Client & Work Product

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Description

Interview of Thomas Moran, Vice President of Business Affairs for the University of Southern California, about the university's role in the response to the violence and civil unrest. Also included are a memorandum of understanding between the university and the Los Angeles Police Department, and a review of the campus's response to the civil disturbance, 1992 August 28

Asset Metadata

Core Title Thomas Moran, interview, 1992-08-28

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest

Format 12 p. (format), application/pdf (imt), Interviews (aat)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/webster-c100-32512

Unique identifier UC11449700

Identifier box 20 (box),web-box20-025-01.pdf (filename),folder 25 (folder),webster-c100-32512 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier web-box20-025/web-box20-025-01.pdf

Dmrecord 32512

Format 12 p. (format),application/pdf (imt),Interviews (aat)

Type texts