Columnist Jeff German: Better safe than sorry in Vegas

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

Other than finding money to put more cops on the streets, homeland security is Sheriff Bill Young's top priority.

"We're committed to ensuring this community remains free of terrorists," Young says.

That's not a bad idea for a city al-Qaida regards as the symbol of Western decadence -- a city that loves to promote its underside to the world.

Young has reaffirmed his anti-terrorism commitment by creating a large Homeland Security Division within his department.

He's taking the Homeland Security Bureau, Criminal Intelligence Section, Vice and Narcotics Bureau and Special Investigations Section out of the Special Operations Division and putting them under the control of the new formidable division.

The reorganization ups the profile of the war on terrorism here and gives it more resources.

The department's top anti-terrorism fighter, Capt. Mike McClary, has been promoted to deputy chief and will run the Homeland Security Division. McClary is getting ready to return to Las Vegas from a three-month fellowship at FBI headquarters in Washington, where he learned how the federal government collects, stores and distributes intelligence on al-Qaida.

With the holiday season in full swing, McClary will need every bit of the knowledge he has gleaned in Washington for his new job.

Young describes the bin Laden videotape that surfaced a few days before the election as an "ominous" message.

"He's obviously still in control of al-Qaida," the sheriff explains. "We're going to see more of the stuff we've seen over the last few years, and we've got to be prepared for it."

Another big test -- the well-publicized New Year's Eve celebration on the Strip -- is coming up, and authorities say they're ready for the challenge.

They'd better be. If al-Qaida strikes here New Year's Eve, this will no longer be the place where "what happens here, stays here."

In the days leading to New Year's last year, Young and other local officials were caught off guard when national news organizations reported that Las Vegas was among several possible terrorist targets.

Though local officials assured us that there were no credible threats, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told reporters in Washington that Las Vegas was one of a handful of cities that should take extra security measures.

And that's what authorities here did -- in hurried fashion.

A no-fly zone was ordered over the Strip for commercial planes, military helicopters hovered above the celebration, extra FBI agents were brought in from around the country and streets leading into the Strip were barricaded.

Some of the precautions taken -- such as conducting random searches of people in public areas and requesting customer lists from hotels and car rental agencies in search of terrorists -- drew the ire of civil libertarians, who were concerned about intrusions on privacy.

Since then authorities have had plenty of time to consider security measures that will protect the Strip and be more sensitive to privacy concerns.

Young and his colleagues say they have a plan in place that should provide the proper balance.

Authorities, meanwhile, are heading into New Year's in the right frame of mind. They are preparing for the worst, but expecting the best.

"We don't have any intelligence to suggest that there's going to be a problem," says Las Vegas FBI chief Ellen Knowlton. "It's very quiet right now. We're just operating out of an abundance of caution."

In a city that thrives on tourism, being safe is definitely better than being sorry. It's a matter of survival.