Columnist Jeff German: Is Vegas safe from terrorists?

Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

One thing we've learned since Sept. 11, 2001, is that terrorism has no boundaries.

The deadly nightclub bombing on Indonesia's resort island of Bali should hit close to home for us, even though it occurred halfway around the world and on the other side of the equator.

Bali, you see, is a popular tourist destination like Las Vegas. Most of the more than 180 people killed in Bali were western visitors, including Americans.

Terrorism expert Naranapiti Karunaratne says the Bali attack is an indication that al-Qaida and its affiliates have begun to broaden their targets.

No longer are the terrorists just looking to hit symbols of western economic and military might, such as the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"They want to show they can attack anywhere," says Karunaratne, a criminal justice professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "They're looking for large-scale victimization."

That means the odds of an attack in Las Vegas, a city frequented by 35 million tourists a year, have increased, Karunaratne says.

So what is Las Vegas doing to reduce those odds?

Local lawmen, casino executives and security chiefs were reluctant this week to talk in depth about this subject. Some even refused to talk, which means we don't know everything that is being done on the Strip to protect us.

But from what we do know, it doesn't look as if enough is being done, though some, like Tim Donovan, president of the Las Vegas Security Chiefs Association, say the industry is working very hard at it.

"We're not going to allow ourselves to get complacent," Donovan says. "We're going to do anything to prevent any type of terrorist threat to this city."

Security officials this week revealed some secrets that should give tourists here more comfort than those in Bali.

Don't get too comfortable, however.

There doesn't seem to be any unified approach to the measures in place on the Strip. Some hotels, it turns out, do more than others.

Conceivably that could leave openings for anyone looking to do damage here.

Las Vegas is fortunate to have 7,000 security officers, the largest private force of its kind in the world, working the Strip and downtown.

Some hotels have put additional officers in uniforms to make them more visible to the public, while others haven't. Some have beefed up patrols around their properties. Some haven't.

And some resorts have installed additional surveillance cameras outside, while still others haven't.

At some casinos you no longer can ask a valet attendant to park your car outside the main entrance while you perform an errand. Others, however, let you park there after your car is inspected. Some casinos don't even allow valet parking drop-offs at their main entrance, while others do.

In most cases now, trucks can't make deliveries at hotels without making arrangements in advance. Some hotels force drivers to pass security checks, while others don't. Some have special hours for deliveries.

Visitors entering public parking structures at some casinos are asked to pop open their trunks for inspection. Other casinos don't have that requirement.

Some hotels are patrolled by trained bomb-sniffing dogs, but many aren't.

And some resorts have security officers stationed at elevators checking guests for room keys, while others don't.

Every hotel, it seems, has its own way of dealing with the threat of terrorism.

Most resorts are diligent about protecting their guests and employees. But it's obvious that not every property does it with the same intensity, which seems odd with all of the uncertainty surrounding us today.

We all know what an act of terrorism in Las Vegas, similar to what happened in Bali, would mean to our economy. It would be devastating, far worse than anything we suffered after the attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 3,000 miles away.

With so much at stake here, you'd think we'd be more careful not to leave any weak links.