Patrols Increase At Federal Government Offices

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — There were increased patrols on Tuesday at thousands of federal buildings across the nation in response to recent terror threats and attacks, with the Los Angeles Police Department telling its officers to be on heightened alert.

The stepped up patrols were apparent in Downtown Los Angeles, where KCAL9's Peter Daut saw Federal Protective Service officers standing guard outside the Federal Courthouse just hours after the Department of Homeland Security announced additional measures at 9,500 government buildings across the nation.

The actual measures taken will vary and change from location to location. Officials say there is no new intelligence of an impending attack and no specific threat. The Department of Homeland Security called the move "a precautionary step" because of continued calls by terrorist groups like ISIS to attack the U.S. Also a factor were incidents last week that included an attack on the Parliament building in Ottawa, Canada, and a hatchet attack on police officers in New York.

Cmdr. Blake Chow of the LAPD's Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau told Daut that the department's 10,000 officers have been told to be on the lookout for potential "lone wolf" or small-scale attacks.

"We're increasing our vigilance and asking our officers to be very very alert about what's going on," said Chow, who added that Tuesday's announcement by DHS is more focused than those in the past. "I don't remember one regarding their facilities."

Chow said it is vital that the public also do its part, and pointed at the "See Something, Say Something" campaign to help prevent the growing threat of terrorism.

"That radicalized message is reaching a lot more people," he said of the threat.

There was no indication how long the increased security measures would stay in place.