Officials tour Las Vegas anti-terrorism center

Sen. Harry Reid, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder say local facility a model for others

Kyle Hansen

During a tour of the Southern Nevada Counterterrorism Center, Sen. Harry Reid and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder look at a robot used when police investigate suspicious packages.

By Kyle Hansen (contact)

Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 | 6:30 p.m.

Fight over, all together now against terrorism (1-22-2008)
Anti-terrorism fusion centers comes together (7-31-2007)
Gibbons loses senators' backing for fusion center (5-18-2007)
Gibbons fusion centers plan greeted with dismay (5-9-2007)

Sen. Harry Reid and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder praised the Southern Nevada Counterterrorism Center as an example of how similar centers in the nation should work.

“This is a model of how fusion centers should operate all over the country,” Reid said.

“I’ve come here to see exactly the way things are done here in Nevada,” Holder said Saturday during a tour of the center near McCarran International Airport. “There are a lot of fusion centers around this country and a lot of them do a very good job, but what we see here is in some ways very unique.”

“This is among the best fusion centers in the country, that’s why I wanted to come to talk to the men and women who staff this, look at the equipment they have and get a better understanding of why this one is so good,” the head of the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Reid and Holder were briefed about how the center operates before going on a tour and seeing some of the equipment used by local law enforcement agencies.

Established in 2007, the center is where more than 70 Metro Police employees and representatives from other public safety agencies coordinate regional responses to crime, disasters and terrorists threats.

“We have an all-crimes, all-hazards approach to address not only terrorism and disasters, but also to positively affect crime prevention and reduction efforts,” Sheriff Doug Gillespie said.

In addition to Metro, officials from the North Las Vegas and Henderson police departments, the Nevada Department of Public Safety, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Transpiration Security Administration and the Clark County and Las Vegas fire departments work at the center.

After seeing high-tech trucks used by law enforcement at crime scenes and a robot used to investigate suspicious packages by the bomb squad, Reid, who worked as a police officers in the 1960s, said it was interesting to see how law enforcement works today.

“How things have changed over these years is remarkable,” he said.

Holder said the best way to prevent terrorism is to have local, state and federal law enforcement officials work together and share information, which is the primary mission of the center and is especially important to Southern Nevada.

“Las Vegas has always been high on the target list of organizations like Al Qaida,” he said.

And it is a primary concern for the federal government, he said.

“There is really nothing more important to the Obama administration and to this Department of Justice than strengthening our national security and protecting the safety of the American people,” Holder said.

Discussion: 13 comments so far…

By lawabidingcitizen

10/17/09 at 8:14 p.m.

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On October 6, Cabhulaahi Faarax, who is on the terrorist watch list, and several other men were stopped by the Nevada Highway Patrol. All men gave their date of birth as January 1 of various years. The officer had to let them go because there was nothing to charge anyone with. A couple of days later, two of the men were at the U.S. Border Crossing at San Ysidiro, California, arriving by taxi, telling the officials there they were going to fly from Tijuana to Mexico City. Mexico in recent years has become a transfer point for persons coming from Somalia to the U.S. The story was on the national news last night. This story is very strange from what I have read. I encourage anyone who is interested in our national security (which should be everyone in the country) to download the story and read it. If you think our government is doing everything it can to protect us, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.
By lawabidingcitizen

10/17/09 at 8:28 p.m.

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Put Cabdulaahi Faarax and Las Vegas into your search engines to find various articles about the above-mentioned story.
By lawabidingcitizen

10/17/09 at 10:17 p.m.

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To Comeonnow: I couldn't agree with you more. Common sense is out the window for out-of-control and expensive "state-of-the-art" technology to fight terrorism. The terrorists seem to use simple things to get their job done like: using a few simple chemicals to make explosives; taking advantage of our government's refusal to enforce its laws on immigration and its abject failure to round-up people who overstay their visas; using good surveillance and rehersal before attacking a target; taking some planes and flying them into buildings because it was apparently so easy to do. Those people mentioned in my first post above, I think we'll be hearing more about them at some point down the road.
By neiman1

10/17/09 at 11:57 p.m.

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Why not seal the border if you want to secure the country? When anyone can come in, anyone can destroy. You have been in power a long time harry, what's the excuse for the border still being open?
By KillerB

10/18/09 at 8:33 a.m.

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This center with all its hype right here and they let actual suspected terrorists right here go. And not one single word of it in this article. Remind me again what justifies this center's existence?
By hooloogoo

10/18/09 at 1:29 p.m.

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.
..
...Seeing Sheriff Doug Gillespie with his nightstick really impresses me. Thank God Governor "Potato Head" Gibbons didn't locate the Fusion Center up in the Mines of Northern Nevada, just think of the text messages coming forth from the Eagles Nest up North to his former Flames.
..
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By Harley

10/18/09 at 2:53 p.m.

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Speaking of terrorism and public protection, where's your nearest fall-out shelter located?

: )
By LVPaco

10/18/09 at 4:51 p.m.

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To Harley...

Historic Fallout Shelters in Las Vegas that I remember...

- Boulevard Mall at the old Woolworths
- 4 Queens Parking Garage
- 3rd Street & Ogden Parking Garages
- Jerry B. Henderson underground house on Spencer near Flamingo
By Harley

10/19/09 at 1:40 a.m.

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It was time for everyone's annual whole-body count at the nuclear facility when it was discovered that a small group of maintenance personnel had high counts of the radioactive isotope Cesium (137) in their bodies.

The investigation revealed that the internally contaminated individuals had recently returned from a successful hunting expedition in Canada in which they unfortunately ingested contaminated Caribou.

It was surmised that the Caribou had ingested the Cesium as a result of the "fallout" from the Chernobyl disaster.

Are YOU prepared for a disaster?

What are YOU going to do, what items will YOU likely need, where are YOU going to go during a disaster?

Where's YOUR fallout shelter located?

Can we really depend upon our Government to provide us adequate disaster protection?
By sheckyvegas

10/19/09 at 2:42 p.m.

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Las Vegas gets terrorists? You mean, like, from Los Angeles? I thought they were called Hispandex...
By Burrittobandit2

10/19/09 at 4:19 p.m.

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Harry is thinking give me a quarter so I can get some gumballs
By Burrittobandit2

10/19/09 at 4:20 p.m.

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Harry is also thinking this is a funny looking fire hydrant. Where does the water come out