Unfinished business

Before the 9-11 hijackers embarked on their reign of terror, five of them stopped in Las Vegas. Leader Mohamed Atta even made a return trip. Was it to plan the attacks that changed our lives and emptied the skies of the planes that transport the lifeblood of our economy? Or was it to scout potential targets? Hoover Dam? The Stratosphere? Is there any more widely-recognized skyline than that aerial shot down the Las Vegas Strip? Heck, it could be the universal symbol for decadence and depravity.

It’s unlikely we’ll ever know what the madmen had in mind. What we do know is that with nearly 40 million visitors a year gracing our sidewalks, getting lost in Las Vegas is a breeze. That’s why enlisting those 40 million extra sets of eyes is essential to preventing fanatics of all persuasions from carrying out their ill-conceived plans. And that’s why the failure of Nevada’s Division of Emergency Management to keep a local anti-terror agency afloat borders on lunacy.

That’s right, just days before the rest of us somberly marked 10 years since the Day Our Lives Changed Forever, the same day the Obama administration confirmed it was tracking a credible threat, the Institute for Security Studies at UNLV closed its doors. Call it the equivalent of George W. Bush smiling broadly beneath that “Mission Accomplished” banner.

The institute came up with award-winning public relations campaigns alerting us to the Seven Signs of Terrorism and urging us to See Something, Say Something. The facility also pioneered cutting-edge facial recognition technology, partnering with local hotels to implement it. The institute’s work was far from over.

What happened? Remember when Brian Sandoval proclaimed he’d be the hardest working governor in America? He meant it. In addition to tackling a contentious legislative session and being confronted with scores of Nevadans losing their jobs and homes, Sandoval took the advice of Public Safety Director Chris Perry, who suggested that because of the governor’s law enforcement experience he should be Homeland Security Commission chairman. The commission oversees the distribution of tens of millions of dollars in federal grant money.

That move displaced longtime Chairman Dr. Dale Carrison, chief of staff at University Medical Center, and commission Vice Chairman and former Sheriff Jerry Keller, in office on that fateful day in 2001. The two resigned their commission posts in August. Add to that the rapid and unexpected departure in February of longtime Emergency Management and Homeland Security chief Frank Siracusa as well as the resignation of commission Director Larry Casey, (told to move to Carson City or give up his job) and it’s not hard to envision the makings of a brain drain.

The Homeland Security Commission voted in May to approve the reallocation of $688,000 to the Institute for Security Studies pending an OK from the federal government.

The man in charge of moving the grant along, Director of Emergency Management Jim Wright, says he missed no deadlines. He provided us a copy of the grant reauthorization. He won’t say why he didn’t sign it. (Perhaps I should mention Wright has three state jobs right now — fire marshal, emergency management director and deputy public safety director. With that much work, his desk may look like mine. Papers can get lost.)

Whether the governor should lead the commission is up to him. Not one person has suggested he’s less than totally engaged. But what good is it if he lacks competent staff to carry out the commission’s directives? If Homeland Security is truly a priority, why is the man in charge of the department holding three state positions? Why isn’t Perry on the commission, in the tradition of his predecessors? He won’t say. Just something about the governor working it out. Nor will Perry explain why, during a budget crisis, the state is saying “thanks, but no thanks” to the nonprofit group Friends for K-9, which donated almost $200,000 in drug-detecting dogs to the state and was about to augment the force with bomb-sniffing dogs. I bet they could have been useful in those big New Year’s Eve crowds.

Times have changed but not state law enforcement in Nevada. C’mon. There’s more to public safety than writing tickets.

Postscript: Days after an exclusive report on the Homeland Security Commission aired on “Face to Face With Jon Ralston,” Sandoval appointed Chris Smith, who manages emergencies for the Washoe County School District, as director of the Department of Emergency Management/Homeland Security. He takes the post Oct. 1.