Las Vegas receives an additional $10.5 million for homeland security

Jace Radke

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

The Department of Homeland Security has allocated an additional $10.5 million to enhance overall security in Las Vegas.

That money is part of $725 million set aside today as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative to help selected cities prevent, respond and recover from acts of terrorism.

Las Vegas received more funding than cities with larger populations, including San Diego ($10.4 million) and Denver ($8.6 million).

"I really think that (Homeland Security Secretary) Tom Ridge and his advisors have heard the lobbying efforts, and understand that we have up to 250,000 tourists a day in Las Vegas," Nevada Homeland Security Chairman Jerry Bussell said. "They seem to realize that we have unique concerns here."

Population density has been a key element in determining homeland security funding, and Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign were able to get a commitment from Ridge two weeks ago that Las Vegas would be included in the urban area grants.

"We have a very serious commitment to make sure Las Vegas is not shortchanged on something as crucial as homeland security funds," Ensign, R-Nev., said.

Among the 50 cities receiving grant money as part of the $725 million allocation today, Las Vegas ranks 25th in terms of amount of money awarded. New York led the list with $47 million, followed by Chicago ($34.1 million), Washington D.C. ($29.3 million) and Los Angeles ($28.2 million).

Other cities ranking ahead of Las Vegas included Phoenix ($12.2 million), St. Louis ($10.7 million) and Atlanta ($10.7 million).

From 1999 through 2003 the state of Nevada has received about $30.2 million in homeland security funds, with about $11.4 million of those funds designated to Clark County. For fiscal year 2004 the state has been allocated $26.5 million for homeland security, but those funds have yet to be distributed to state and local authorities.