Editorial: Messing with security plans

Thursday, May 10, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

Long before Jim Gibbons was elected governor, Nevada officials prepared plans for fulfilling a homeland security priority established by the federal government.

The priority was for all states, with help from federal grants and guidelines, to take the lead on domestic security. The guidelines were inspired by what happened before 9/11 - chances for foiling the terrorist attacks were missed because law-enforcement agencies were not sharing critical information.

Beginning about three years ago, the federal priority began taking shape in the form of state "fusion centers." Within these centers, representatives from federal, state and local agencies cooperate on gathering and sharing intelligence about actual and potential threats ranging from common criminal activity to terrorist plots.

Nevada's plan was to form fusion centers in Las Vegas and Reno. For the Las Vegas area, Metro Police took the lead in planning the fusion center and it is scheduled for a July opening.

As the Las Vegas area accounts for most of Nevada's population, it only makes sense for it to be the site of the state's main fusion center.

A Homeland Security Department assistant director, as quoted Tuesday in a story by Las Vegas Sun reporter Jeff German, said Las Vegas is the "logical" site. Pretty much everyone agrees with that.

Except for Gov. Gibbons. Incomprehensibly, he is demanding that a third fusion center be built in Carson City, and that it be the main center, with the ones in Las Vegas and Reno considered as regional support.

A center in Carson City, near the Governor's Mansion, would allow Gibbons to have a greater physical presence there. But as Gibbons would not be directly running the center, what purpose would that serve? Naturally, the governor would be instantly informed by the Las Vegas and Reno centers of any threats worthy of his attention.

A third center could actually work against Nevada by making the federal government question whether we are spending homeland security grant money wisely. Nevada fought long and hard after 9/11 to have the right to compete for a fair share of federal homeland security grant money. Now that the state has won that fight, foolish moves, like an unjustifiable third fusion center, should not be undertaken.

Gibbons should throw his support to the fusion centers already in the works, and withdraw the state's application for federal money to build a third in Carson City.