Compromise tweaks terror center plans

Saturday, July 7, 2007 | 7:07 a.m.

Moving toward a compromise, state and local homeland security officials drafted a plan Friday to incorporate "fusion centers" in Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City in the state's intelligence-gathering efforts in the war on terrorism.

"We did a lot of ground work " Friday, said Assistant Sheriff Mike McClary, who oversees homeland security efforts for Metro Police. "We came to a common ... understanding of the statewide vision for information sharing and a common understanding of the rules and responsibilities for each center."

The final decision on the plan will rest with Gov. Jim Gibbons, Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie and Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley, who could receive a written version as early as next week. The three are expected to meet to discuss the plan.

Friday's compromise was regarded as a major step toward resolving differences between state and local counterterrorism officials that surfaced after Gibbons sought to establish a Carson City fusion center to serve as Nevada's primary contact with federal homeland security officials.

Local authorities, including Gillespie, told Gibbons that the federally funded intelligence-gathering operation in Las Vegas, set to open next month, was best suited to be the state's primary contact with federal authorities. Most of the state's anti-terrorism resources are in Southern Nevada, as are most of the potential targets.

More than 60 Metro detectives, analysts and support staff will work out of the high-tech center, which is designed to coordinate the collecting and disseminating of intelligence across jurisdictional lines. Other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the Homeland Security Department, also plan to station representatives there.

Local officials and some federal authorities saw the governor's Carson City plan as undermining the authority of the Las Vegas intelligence hub to deal with Washington during a terrorist threat.

But under Friday's compromise, put together by representatives of Metro, the Washoe County Sheriff's Department and the Nevada Emergency Management Division, all three fusion centers will simultaneously share intelligence and threat information from federal homeland security officials.

If the threat involve d Clark County, McClary said, the Southern Nevada center would have primary jurisdiction to deal with it. If it involve d Washoe County, the Northern Nevada center would have primary responsibility. And if the threat involved the rural counties, the Carson City center would take the lead.

"Each center will have clearly defined roles," McClary said, eliminating concerns that the Carson City center could duplicate efforts during a terrorism crisis.

McClary said he was confident that the new counterterrorism plan would receive support from federal homeland security authorities.

"I don't see anything we talked about ... creating any problems in dealing with " the Homeland Security Department, he said.

Gibbons sought more than $600,000 from the Legislature this year to set up the Carson City fusion center, but lawmakers declined to give it to him. The governor was told to work out his differences with local authorities and then request the money from the Interim Legislative Commission , which meets between sessions.

Gibbons also has asked for $1.7 million in federal homeland security money for the Carson City center.