At the Monday, October 15 Harbor Commissioners meeting, a unanimous vote confirmed the hiring of the Port of Long Beach’s new Security Director Randy Parsons.

A Transportation Security Asministration (TSA) executive and FBI veteran, Parsons started as a lawyer and police officer in Topeka, Kansas and has since fostered a distinguished career in counterterrorism, transportation security, education and law enforcement. He retired from the FBI in 2005 after 20 years of service and currently serves as the Federal Security Director at LAX.

Parsons was chosen after commissioners underwent a nationwide search to fill the position after former security director Cosmo Perrone retired in May 2011. His hiring comes at the same time as an announcement of a $1.5 million Department of Homeland Security grant to help secure Los Angeles and Long Beach, two areas deemed high-risk for terrorism attacks by the federal government.

Now that his appointment is confirmed, Parsons will head the Security Division at the nation’s second-busiest port including overseeing the Port’s Harbor Patrol as well as fostering cooperation among the several other law enforcement and security agencies that assist the complex.

He is expected to be formally introduced next month.