DAILY MEMO: LAW ENFORCEMENT:

Fusion center’s attention on prevention

Example: Suspicion raised by photo-taking at casino

By Jeff German (contact)

Published Friday, May 22, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Updated Friday, May 22, 2009 | 4:24 p.m.

Sheriff's anti-terror force: Strip workers (4-24-2009)
More Homeland staff may be needed (11-5-2008)
On the front line against terrorism in Vegas (2-7-2008)
Fight over, all together now against terrorism (1-22-2008)
Anti-terrorism fusion center comes together (7-31-2007)
Las Vegas still has much to do to be prepared in case of attack (8-13-2004)
Debate over LV terrorism allegations intensifies (8-11-2004)

Taking photos on the Strip is about as common as placing bets.

Thousands of tourists go unnoticed every day capturing their favorite Las Vegas attractions on film.

One early morning in late February, however, three men were spotted taking unusual photos at a major Strip casino.

Their cameras were aimed at the casino’s ceiling, its structural beams and its elevators. Casino security officers found the behavior suspicious.

The trio appeared to be doing the kind of photographic surveillance terrorists might do before they strike a target, the officers concluded.

So they contacted the Southern Nevada Counter-Terrorism Center.

The center is run by Metro Police and houses investigators and analysts from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in Southern Nevada.

It has an “all-crimes, all-hazards” mission, which allows it to also keep tabs on traditional crime, health hazards and local emergencies.

But the main aim of the “fusion” center is to protect Southern Nevadans from terrorism, for which the case of the suspicious photo trio provided a real-life test.

Lt. Kevin McMahill, of Metro’s counterterrorism team, and his colleagues at the center were called upon to assess the potential threat of the photographers, and after a review of the casino’s surveillance videos, the center issued one of its rare law enforcement bulletins asking other casinos along the Strip to provide information on the men and to report any similar activity.

The bulletin included photos of the trio taken from the surveillance tapes.

“A review of the security video clearly shows the three are not taking typical tourist photographs,” the bulletin says.

According to McMahill, the men were in and out of the casino in roughly 10 minutes. One was pointing to various parts of the casino and directing the other two to take the photos.

Later, all three men were seen walking up and down the Strip with their cameras.

Some three months later, however, anti-terrorism authorities have yet to identify the trio or determine whether their actions were connected to any kind of threat.

McMahill says it’s not over until it’s over, and if not for the fusion center, the investigation would not be as far along as it is.

“We compare intelligence coming to us every day with the information we have on these guys,” McMahill says. “Intelligence-sharing is a very slow process. We may very well end up identifying these guys, but it may take a while.”

The center, which opened in October 2007 with the help of $4.6 million in federal funding and costs an estimated $1 million a year to operate, was supposed to be a way to speed up the sharing of information among various law enforcement agencies.

The center’s leadership says it has done that. In other words, while intelligence-sharing may still be a slow process, it is not as slow as it once was.

In this case, for example, the FBI, which has an agent and an analyst stationed at the center, has lent much-needed national intelligence help in the effort to identify the three suspicious photographers, McMahill says.

The ongoing investigation has been -- and continues to be -- a valuable exercise, say McMahill and Metro Lt. Tom Monahan, the center’s director.

“To be able to prevent an attack, we need to begin to identify the preoperational phase, which includes suspicious photography and preoperational planning,” Monahan says.

With the resources of the center, authorities have, indeed, “begun” to do that.

But authorities can’t move this case into the success column on the homeland security front until they identify the three men from three months ago and determine whether they were tourists or terrorists.

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

By paplikaplik

5/22/09 at 6:39 a.m.

Suggest removal

I always love the PR pieces that these agencies put out. I imagine newspapers do as well, since you just have to paraphrase the press release and not do much real work.

In 50 years, through the Cold War and everything else, the style of these PR pieces hasn't changed, except "Soviets" and "Subversives" have been replaced with "terrorists". The thing that makes this one even better is they've added the "think of the children" angle.

Keep justifying that funding, guys.
By BugMeTons

5/22/09 at 9:17 a.m.

Suggest removal

paplikaplik;

You're absolutely right. One other thing, if these picture snappers are oh-so-dangerous, when and where is the surveillance film going to be shown so the public can phone in tips on these desperadoes?
By GunslingerA10

5/22/09 at 12:08 p.m.

Suggest removal

So what is it I think I am hearing, we got 4.6 million from the fed, and we probably matched it, which then we use one million a year to operate the fusion center. The command post' (fusion center is the new name for the purpose of increasing taxes) main purpose is as the sun reports "One of the biggest benefits of the fusion center approach to fighting terrorism is the quicker access investigators have to the intelligence-gathering resources of all of the participants" something like the INTPOL.

Why do they need to jump to conclusions, like with the accident weeks ago? These guys were probably just out looking at the poorly made building structures or just looking to copy the design. Oh they forgot to mention profiling; these guys were probably of a race (dark skin) other than Caucasian which is how they will justify the Counter-Terrorism Fusion Center, nice.

Then the "Fusion Center" called the Southern Nevada Counter-Terrorism Center, wait you mean to tell me that Metro couldn't do that, make that call and allow them into the loop. Did I miss something here; I think it is called redundancy. Soon we will have another agency to handle all in coming calls; it will sort out where to send them, it will be called Cursory Fusion Counter-Terrorism Center. It will be most need not for anything other than another place to employ the elite college grads or politically connected. Oh increase taxes again before I forget.

We used to treat paranoia or guilt with a shrink in the 70' but now in the 21st century govt. is pacifying us with counter-terrorism, anti-terrorism, and homeland security. Take a colligate acronym or create a new word to befuddle the masses, and then tax them for their ignorance, or lack of knowledge.

What is next, Poll Tax, wait we caught on to that already? Don't let that stop you govt. executives from growing govt. larger. America still has less servants or civil servants per department than do many other countries I think. We do more with less, plus we use more technology in America, as I have noticed when I travel to other countries.

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