Columnist Jeff German: Balancing privacy, security

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004 | 11:04 a.m.

Threats of terrorism were high New Year's Eve, and we saw unprecedented security measures on the Strip.

But the biggest party of the year in Las Vegas went off without a hitch.

The only fireworks some 270,000 visiting party-goers on the Strip saw were the kind that tourism officials wanted them to see -- the kind that exploded harmlessly above their heads in the sky.

"Security was as tight as it's ever been, but it didn't put a damper on anything," says Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association.

Yet, as we breathe a sigh of relief and thank our lucky stars, civil libertarians are suggesting that we need to consider whether the historic security measures taken last week are putting a damper on our constitutional rights to privacy.

For the first New Year's ever we saw military helicopters flying over the Strip, while other air traffic was restricted during the peak celebration hours. Concrete barriers were erected, and garbage trucks were lined up to block traffic from flowing into the giant block party.

Sharpshooters were stationed on hotel rooftops, and people carrying backpacks in the party zone were searched indiscriminately by police.

FBI agents also used administrative subpoenas, which don't need court approval, and other lawful means to obtain guest lists from hotels so they could look for any matches on terrorism watch lists. Names of those who did business with car and truck rental agencies, storage facilities and the airlines also were collected.

The businesses and most tourists didn't seem to mind the inconveniences, and law enforcement authorities praised everyone for their cooperation.

Things went so well that authorities now say we can expect these kinds of security precautions to be part of our lifestyle for a while.

"This is the future," says Sheriff Bill Young, who knows similar measures likely will be put in place if the nation remains under the same orange alert, the second highest threat level, during the next big Strip party in three weeks, Super Bowl weekend.

In these dangerous times, Young says, he can see Las Vegas and other cities in America living under such conditions over the next few years.

But Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, argues that authorities are going too far in the name of fighting terrorism and are intruding on our rights to privacy.

What concerns Peck the most is how easily the FBI, with no judicial oversight, gained access to hotel records on 300,000 tourists last week.

He sees this as the latest step, authorized by new anti-terrorism laws, that is "shredding" our Fourth Amendment protection against unwarranted searches and seizures and giving the FBI the unfettered ability to conduct "massive data mining" on Americans.

When Peck hears lawmen say we should get used to these kinds of investigative tactics, he gets insulted, and he thinks the rest of us should, too.

He raises some legitimate concerns. We don't, after all, want to destroy the very system we're trying to protect.

But law enforcement authorities say they understand that there's a very delicate balancing act here, and they insist they didn't cross the line last week.

FBI spokesman Todd Palmer, for example, says the bureau has no plans to compile dossiers on the 270,000 tourists who came to party on the Strip. He says there aren't enough hours in the day to do that.

The only goal of the records checks, he explains, was to "leave no stone uncovered" in the hunt for potential terrorists.

Under the circumstances, it's hard to find fault with last week's effort.

We know that some of the Sept. 11 al-Qaida hijackers stayed in Las Vegas hotels before they carried out their acts of terror back East, and they rented cars here. Storage facilities have been used in other terrorists plots, and to get around the country al-Qaida operatives certainly have used commercial airlines.

So it's only logical that authorities would want to ask these kinds of businesses for help in thwarting any new plots. They would be derelict in their duties if they didn't do this.

"You have to err on the side of caution," Sheriff Young says. "I think about the consequences of having a tragedy here like Sept. 11."

A lot of people on the Strip probably think about that, too.