Operation Garden Plot
JTF-LAJoint Task Force Los Angeles

Garden Plot is the generic Operations Plan [OPLAN] for military support related to domestic civil disturbances.

On the afternoon of 29 April 1992, the worst civil unrest since the riots of the 1960's erupted in the streets of Los Angeles. Forty-four people died, and hundreds of injuries occurred before order was restored. Property damage reached the billion-dollar mark because of rampaging looters and the thousands of fires that they set. The LA riots of 1992 were unquestionably the most costly civil disturbance in US history.

At 2230 on 29 April 1992, as part of the response to this disorder, the 3d Battalion, 160th Infantry (Mechanized), 40th Infantry Division, California National Guard, was ordered to mobilize. Between 2100 and 2400 the following day, all 3d Battalion companies deployed to their assigned areas. It was the first tactical battalion to be mobilized, the first to deploy to the streets of LA, and the last to redeploy.

Joint Task Force Los Angeles (JTF-LA) was formed following a Presidential Executive Order on the evening of 1 May. The Executive Order federalized units of the California National Guard (CAARNG) and authorized active military forces to assist in the restoration of law and order. JTF-LA formed and deployed within twenty-four hours, assembled from US Army and Marine forces. It operated in a unique domestic disturbance environment, while working with city, county, state, federal agencies and the CAARNG.

In Operation Garden Plot, military forces established intelligence exchange with suburban police departments, local city command posts, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the LAPD emergency operations center, the city command center, the sheriffs office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. During Operation Garden Plot, units used a variety of government-owned, off-the-shelf purchased, and personally owned equipment to effectively conduct operations. Additional communications equipment included such things as cellular phones, faxsimile machines, and police scanners.