Threat prevention

In Wake Of Attacks, U.S. Cities Step Up Terrorism Simulations

The recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have put pressure on local authorities to show they're ready for that kind of violence. Some jurisdictions, such as Los Angeles, are stepping up exercises and terrorism simulations.

There's a hill near downtown LA — it's kind of a mesa, overlooking Dodger Stadium. There's a big parking lot up there — and right around 3 p.m. last Friday, the lot started filling up with police cars.

This is a "muster" — a surprise test by the LA Police Department brass to see how quickly they could get their on-duty police to converge at a central point. The cops show up already wearing helmets and ballistic vests and carrying their big guns — there are a few hundred of them, and as they form up into ranks, they look like an army. The deputy chief in charge of counterterrorism, Michael Downing, steps up to a microphone and delivers a speech about how peace officers sometimes have to act like soldiers.