Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Terror fight takes shotgun approach

A plan by Gov. Jim Gibbons to set up an anti-terrorism intelligence-gathering hub in Carson City is threatening to disrupt a broader and delicately balanced effort among local, state and federal law enforcement officials in Southern Nevada.

Federal authorities, while offering millions of dollars in homeland security funds, have been encouraging states to create "fusion centers" to better coordinate the collection and dissemination of intelligence in the war on terrorism.

Last summer Nevada officials allocated $6.5 million in federal anti-terrorism money to establish multiagency intelligence centers in Las Vegas and Reno, the two cities in Nevada considered most vulnerable to attack.

Metro Police, which has been spearheading the information-sharing effort in Las Vegas the past two years, plans to open the valley's fusion center in July and staff it with 61 department employees, including detectives and intelligence and crime analysts. Representatives from many federal and state agencies also will be assigned to the center.

Fusion centers are designed to remove information-sharing obstacles and streamline intelligence gathering across jurisdictions so law enforcement authorities can more effectively detect potential acts of terrorism. Currently, there are 43 fusion centers in 28 states, with a total of 70 expected to be operating within the next three years, federal officials said.

Authorities in Southern Nevada and Washington believe that the Las Vegas center should be recognized by Gibbons as the state's primary intelligence-sharing hub with the federal government. This is where most of the state's population and threats are and where Nevada has devoted most of its anti-terrorism resources.

But on April 27, Gibbons vowed to establish a "centralized fusion hub" in Carson City to act as the "nerve center" for Nevada's homeland security system.

"We are missing our main link with the federal Department of Homeland Security and our best tool for coordinating the rapid response of police, fire and other emergency agencies within Nevada," the governor said. "This is inexcusable, and it threatens not only our security but also our federal funding."

Nevada homeland security officials said they are seeking $1.7 million in federal money to buy computers, software and other high-tech equipment and have asked the Legislature for $244,000 more to hire two analysts and a manager to staff the Carson City fusion center, a scaled-down version of the operations in Las Vegas and Reno.

Henderson Police Chief Richard Perkins, who has been playing a role in developing the valley's center, called the state's effort a waste of money.

"It doesn't make a whole lot of sense," said Perkins, a former Democratic Assembly speaker. "We want to put everybody under one roof so they can communicate. But when they're separated by 450 miles, it's difficult to do that."

Even the Public Safety Working Group of Gibbons' own transition team this year did not recommend setting up a fusion center in Carson City.

In its executive summary, the 16-member group, which included some of the state's top law enforcement officials, advised the governor to support the programs in Las Vegas and Reno.

"The working group agrees that the focal point of homeland security is the creation of a fusion center with hubs in the north and the south," the summary said.

Robert Riegle, a Washington-based Homeland Security Department assistant director who serves as the federal agency's liaison with state and local governments, said Las Vegas is the "logical" site to be designated as the state's primary fusion center.

"The best place is where most of the information resides," Riegle said, adding that Las Vegas "consumes most of the effort in Nevada."

Homeland Security officials in Washington have committed to stationing someone at the Las Vegas center, he said.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie was so concerned after he learned of Gibbons' homeland security push in Carson City that he arranged to meet with him Thursday while visiting the state capital on an unrelated matter. Nevada Homeland Security Director Larry Martines, the governor's point man for the Carson City fusion center, attended the meeting.

"We weren't quite sure what direction the governor was going so we felt it was best if we sat down and discussed our concerns here in Southern Nevada," Gillespie said.

The sheriff said he briefed Gibbons on the progress of the Las Vegas fusion center and let him know that he believes that the local operation should be the one to coordinate the statewide effort and share information with Homeland Security officials in Washington.

"When you're looking at our federal counterparts, we're already doing it here," Gillespie said. "Nothing needs to be re-created."

Gibbons, the sheriff explained, wants to make sure the governor's office will have access to sensitive homeland security information when the need arises - something the sheriff believes can be accomplished through the Las Vegas fusion center, which plans to include Martines as a participant.

Gillespie said Gibbons was receptive to his concerns and asked him to provide more information about the Las Vegas anti-terrorism operation.

Martines, though, said Gibbons "has made it very clear that he wants one up and running" in Carson City. Gibbons wants all three fusion centers to be compatible, he said.

"We're working together on this thing," Martines said, adding that Gibbons' effort is patterned after California, which has a central hub in Sacramento and several other anti-terrorism centers scattered .

But Perkins said a third Nevada center, just 30 miles outside Reno, will send the wrong message and could confuse the federal government.

"They won't know which site is the primary site," he said. "It's difficult for me to understand how this serves the interests of the state."

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