Officials say Las Vegas not specific target of terrorists

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003 | 10:52 a.m.

Local and federal law enforcement officials joined Gov. Kenny Guinn Monday to say that there are no specific terrorist threats against Las Vegas as the nation continued to be at the second-highest level of terror-attack alert.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Monday mentioned Las Vegas while discussing the reasons for the elevated terror alert, but Ellen Knowlton, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office of the FBI, said there are no credible threats to Las Vegas.

"If there is any specific, credible information it will be put out," she said. "For us this alert is not any more serious than previous alerts, and we are handling it in the same fashion as in the past.

"The only difference is that it happens to coincide with the holidays."

Ridge's mention of Las Vegas came on a television news program Monday, a day after officials warned that al-Qaida terrorists might be plotting attacks against the United States during the holidays.

"There are public gatherings in major urban areas around the country, big celebrations, Times Square, Las Vegas, L.A., football games, you name it," Ridge said on the program.

An official speaking on condition of anonymity had said Sunday that some intercepted communications and other intelligence mentioned New York, Washington and unspecified West Coast cities as possible targets.

Clark County Sheriff Bill Young said that police plan to tackle Las Vegas' New Year's celebration in the same manner they have in the past.

"This isn't the first year Metro has had to police the celebration, and we have a pretty tried-and-true plan that we will continue to use," Young said of the celebration that is expected to draw 300,000 people to the Strip on Dec. 31. "I may make a few modifications to the plan, but I expect it to go off like any other year.

"We have met with security at the hotels and we expect to meet with them again and ask them to help a little more this year."

Young has asked key members of his staff to make sure they are in Las Vegas during the holidays, and said he wasn't surprised that the nation raised its security level to orange.

"I thought there was probably a 50-50 chance of it happening," Young said. "We've trained and prepared for this and been through these alerts before. We're on it, and I hope that people don't change their holiday plans.

"My family is going on a ski trip, although it will be without me, and we aren't changing those plans."

Guinn echoed Young's comments, saying Nevada's law enforcement agencies are "as well-prepared as anybody could be."

Staffing at local police agencies will run as usual, with days off canceled during the New Year's celebration as they are every year. As many as 15 additional officers will be assigned to McCarran International Airport for the duration of the orange alert, Young said.

Knowlton has staffed the FBI's local emergency operations center and it will remain staffed 24 hours a day until the orange alert is lifted, she said.

Security was also tightened at Hoover Dam, where vehicle checks were stepped up on the Nevada and Arizona sides of the dam, said Bob Walsh, spokesman for the federal Bureau of Reclamation.

Boat patrols also resumed upstream and downstream of the dam on the Colorado River, Walsh said.

Tractor-trailers, full-size buses and large recreational vehicles continue to be banned from crossing the dam.