Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Stepped-up LV security here to stay

For three weeks Nevada Homeland Security Adviser Jerry Bussell burned up the phone lines for the latest intelligence and saw firsthand the security precautions needed to safeguard Las Vegas.

No-fly zones, patrolling helicopters, radiation monitors and a small army of law enforcement officers and federal agents were some of the precautions on the Strip during New Year's Eve celebrations, and such measures could be taken again, Bussell said.

"It's definitely a new era for us in Las Vegas," Bussell said, reflecting on the elevated terrorism threat level over the holidays. "It's probably the first time that we've really had to come to grips with the fact that Las Vegas is a potential target, just like New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

"The reality is that Las Vegas has always been a possible target, but it really hits home now."

Clark County Emergency Management Coordinator Jim O'Brien said the difference on New Year's Eve this year was clear inside the emergency operations center at the County Government Center.

"I think people had the feeling that we were on par with New York and these other cities when it comes to vulnerability," O'Brien said. "It's easy to see when you look at the open atmosphere with large crowds and the amount of large venues we have."

O'Brien said he was discussing Las Vegas' future security needs with an FBI agent Monday, and they came to the conclusion that future high terrorism alerts would probably be a lot more like the past three weeks than the less stringent security of past alerts.

Since the nation went to high alert, or level orange, on Dec. 21, federal officials have mentioned Las Vegas in the same breath as New York, Washington and other major cities. More than a dozen international flights to the United States were canceled during the high alert period that ended Friday.

Special Agent Todd Palmer, an FBI spokesman for the Las Vegas office, declined to comment about the changing security needs of Las Vegas, saying that the FBI has made terrorism its top priority.

An additional 25 FBI agents augmented the usual 100 stationed in Las Vegas over New Year's, not the hundreds of agents being reported by some media outlets, Palmer said.

Although Las Vegas did come up in some of the "chatter" and intelligence reports over the holidays, Bussell and Palmer both said that there was never a specific threat against the city.

Undersheriff Doug Gillespie said Metro Police will continue to look at elevated terrorism alerts on a case-by-case basis and rely on intelligence when making security decisions.

"We feel very good about the information we get from our local and federal counterparts," Gillespie said. "We in public safety and citizens have to remember that intelligence is not always going to be exact and something that you can always put a finger on."

Tim Donovan, president of the Las Vegas Security Chiefs Association, said that he didn't know if all the security measures taken during the last three weeks will return during the next orange alert.

"I think we had two factors that came together that made this one extraordinary -- the information that was mentioning Las Vegas and the holiday," Donovan said. "We've said that Las Vegas is the safest tourist destination in the world, and I still believe that it is.

"I think you can look at New Year's as an example of that."

Thirty-five million visitors come to Las Vegas every year, and the Strip is the home of 20 of the world's largest hotels.

Bussell, Sheriff Bill Young and Nevada's legislative delegation have often lobbied federal officials for more security funding, but with reports that Las Vegas was a target on Dec. 31 those efforts seem even more important.

"Las Vegas wasn't even included when the federal government first came out with a list of 30 cities that needed additional security funding," Bussell said. "Now, we are certainly at that identifiable level with other major cities."

Las Vegas has been included as one of 48 cities in the 2004 urban area security initiative, paving the way for a grant of $10.5 million scheduled to be paid to local agencies in Clark County later this year.

Since fiscal year 1999 the state has received $30.2 million in federal homeland security funding, with $20.3 million being allocated to local agencies. Of those dollars, Clark County has received $11.4 million.

Fiscal year 2004 grant monies are also expected to be distributed later this year with the state getting $26.5 million, $21.2 million of which will be set aside for local agencies.

Bussell said that the New Year's celebration gave law enforcement a chance to work together and field test many security precautions that had been used only in exercises before.

"New York has had its security assets out there on the ground since Sept. 11, but this was the first time we've been able to get ours out there," Bussell said.

Bussell said he plans to talk to Young about any additional security in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl weekend, a big tourist visitation period.

"We just need to have a precautionary conversation about it, but remember that we're at yellow and security is not as intense as what it would be under orange," Bussell said.

The Las Vegas Security Chief's Association, which includes representatives from more than 90 Las Vegas resorts and 7,000 security officers, is taking steps to better prepare for possible terrorist attacks and heightened security alerts, Donovan said.

The association's security officers have completed Metro and FBI training to familiarize themselves with weapons of mass destruction and will undergo a second training course in incident management, Donovan said.

Henderson Emergency Management Coordinator Michael Cyphers, said that communication remains an issue in some areas of terror planning and prevention.

"Internally, locally and on the state side of things we were all pretty well connected," Cyphers said. "The information coming down from the federal aspect still needs some work. You still see as much on CNN as you hear from the federal government."

Gillespie said he felt confident in the intelligence network that is in place, saying, "We have to rely on the people whose job it is to interpret that information."

The last three weeks of heightened terror alert have cost Bussell a lot of sleep, but he said the response from law enforcement in Las Vegas has also left him with some peace of mind.

"It looks like terrorism is here to stay," Bussell said. "We took the needed precautions, and will continue to take them to ensure that our visitors and our citizens are safe."

archive