Sheriff criticizes split of anti-terrorism money

Friday, July 18, 2003 | 11:33 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The governor's Homeland Security Committee allocated $12.2 million to local governments Thursday, including $7.7 million to Clark County, to help prepare against terrorist attacks.

The money will be used to buy equipment and to train people who respond first to emergencies, Frank Siracusa, director of the state Division of Emergency Management, said today.

Siracusa said Metro Police will receive $1.6 million of the $7.7 million to buy protective equipment and to use for detection and prevention duties. That figure is 100 percent of what the police department requested, Siracusa said.

But Sheriff Bill Young, who has been critical about how the federal government has established allocation procedures for the nearly $18 million that Nevada received, said he is "not completely satisfied" with Southern Nevada's share.

"We have 70 percent of the population here, and 65 percent of the police officers in this state work for Metro," Young said today.

"I feel better that we (Southern Nevadans) are getting 64 percent of the $12.2 million that was set aside for the first responders. But I feel we should have received 70 percent of the entire allocation. Giving so much money to the state I don't believe was a prudent use of the funds."

Funds were also allocated to the Clark County Fire Department and to local governments in Southern Nevada.

Young said Metro never tried to hog all of the available local money, noting that the $1.6 million was all his agency requested.

Young said he had "no complaint" with the county and Las Vegas fire departments receiving about $3.2 million "because we (local agencies) work as a team and we (Metro) are a team player. The split of the money in Clark County was very equitable."

The state received $17.9 million from the federal government. It plans to set up a $2.3 million fund to reimburse state and local governments for the increased costs related to terrorism preparation, such as overtime for police and highway patrol troopers.

The state will also keep about $3 million to ensure that agencies such as the highway patrol, the investigations division and the attorney general's office are equipped to support local governments in case of emergency.

Gov. Kenny Guinn must confirm the allocations.