Columnist Jeff German: On the delicate balance that must be struck between the American people’s right to privacy and the government’s need to take extraordinary measures in order to protect us

Sunday, Nov. 13, 2005 | 7:08 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

There's no easy formula for deciding how far the government should go when gathering information on Americans to root out terrorists.

In Las Vegas -- as we preach in our marketing slogan, "What happens here, stays here" -- we value our privacy.

But we also value our livelihoods here.

Some believe Las Vegas, which thrives on tourism, is an attractive terrorist target. To them, all it would take is one attack to dim those bright neon lights on the Strip.

And so we're constantly struggling to find a balance.

The Washington Post last week provided a few new details on the FBI's sweeping effort here during the holidays in 2003 to collect information on tourists to quell a potential terrorism threat. Hotel guest lists, airline manifests and car rental agency records all were obtained.

Following the story, some political and casino industry heavyweights were quick to accuse the FBI of abusing its authority through this so-called "data mining."

They also questioned why the FBI held on to that information long after the threat had passed.

It's a legitimate question that deserves an answer. I can't imagine what value those records could have for any government agency now.

But I also think it's unfair to criticize the FBI over the manner in which it obtained that information during this extraordinary time for Las Vegas.

Do you remember seeing military helicopters hovering over the Strip on New Year's Eve? And bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling the crowds?

Agents did what we expect them to do when our safety is on the line. They worked round-the-clock under much stress while the rest of us enjoyed the holidays with our families.

"There was information at the time about an imminent terrorist threat to a number of cities, including Las Vegas," says John Miller, the FBI's chief spokesman in Washington. "A massive effort was pulled together to address that potential threat.

"The object was not to pry into personal information. It was to go through a large amount of data to find the type of information that would allow us to prevent a potential terrorist attack."

One of the problems agents faced, Miller says, is that, though they believed they had reliable intelligence, they also had few specifics.

"We had flight numbers and a number of destinations, including Las Vegas," he explains. "But we didn't have the names of the bad guys.

"What we had to do was look for needles in a bunch of large haystacks. We had to go through a large number of names and try to figure out if any of those names had a nexus to terrorism."

And they only had days to do it.

Agents, I'm told, went about gathering that information in a variety of ways. Some casinos and businesses voluntarily turned over records. Some asked for a simple letter from the FBI requesting the records, first. And others wanted a subpoena.

It was largely a cooperative effort. This is a town, after all, that's littered with retired FBI agents, many of whom work in security on the Strip.

"No one in the community has ever raised any concerns to me about the information they were asked to provide," says Ellen Knowlton, the special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office.

"Everything was done in a lawful manner consistent with FBI and Department of Justice policies and guidelines."

And yet there are times when the FBI can't escape criticism no matter what it does.

After Sept. 11, it was rapped for not doing enough to prevent the deadly terrorist attacks.

So Congress broadened the FBI's powers under the Patriot Act, and now the bureau is being accused of intruding on the privacy of Las Vegas tourists.

Where do we strike a balance?

I don't know the answer.

But I do know that Las Vegas -- and its wealthy casino industry -- can't afford any less of an effort than what they got from the FBI two years ago.