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10 years after tragedy, is Las Vegas any safer?
Terror attacks spurred agency cooperation and high-tech safety measures, but experts concede: It still can happen anywhere
Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.
Nation marks 10-year anniversary of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
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KSNV coverage of commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Sept. 10, 2011.
Remembering 9/11
- Reflecting on how Sept. 11 has changed our lives
- 9/11 memorial T-shirts fashioned into art at UNLV
- Reporter forced to face his own fears at Ground Zero
- Jon Ralston: What we’ve lost since Sept. 11
- Sun Editorial: Sobering anniversary brings memories, reminders of what’s important
- 10 years later, Las Vegas Sun photo of girl with flag still resonates
- Palo Verde students preserve 9/11 tradition — and teacher’s legacy
Sun archives
Read the stories that ran in the Las Vegas Sun on the following dates:
When anti-Muslim, right-wing extremist Anders Breivik set off a fertilizer bomb in Oslo and then went on a shooting rampage that killed 76 people, law enforcement analysts in Las Vegas sprung into action, examining how they would respond to a similar scenario.
When authorities captured accused gunman Jared Loughner in connection with the January killing of six people outside a Tucson grocery store and the wounding of 14 more, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., the same analysts contacted Arizona authorities to determine whether Loughner had any connection to Las Vegas. He didn’t.
But that was still considered a successful use of time at the Southern Nevada Counter-Terrorism Center, the existence of which is the single greatest step taken to improve terrorism preparedness in Las Vegas since 9/11.
The so-called fusion center, housed at the new Metro Police headquarters in downtown Las Vegas, is the only place where local, state and federal law enforcement representatives work together round-the-clock to gather and analyze intelligence. And it deals with all crimes and hazards, not just terrorism.
“It’s the partnership and communication between the FBI and local law enforcement agencies that make the fusion center viable,” said former Sheriff Bill Young, who ran Metro from January 2003 to January 2007. “Before 9/11, the relationship between police and the FBI nationwide used to be terrible. The FBI was notorious for using local police to gather intelligence and then excluding them and cutting them out of criminal investigations. But now I see the FBI and local law enforcement working closer together than at any time in history.”
The significance cannot be overstated because a chief criticism of U.S. security before 9/11 was that law enforcement agencies too often engaged in turf battles in which they failed to share crucial intelligence information. That’s why 19 al-Qaida operatives maneuvered freely throughout the country, including in Las Vegas before the attacks.
“We recognize that we have to work together to prevent any terrorist threats or attacks,” said Lt. Gregory Damarin of Metro’s counterterrorism section. “There’s no information that the locals get that the FBI doesn’t get, and there’s no information that the FBI gets that the locals don’t get.”
Damarin and others involved in terrorism preparedness say Southern Nevada has far better communications, equipment and training than it did before 9/11. But they concede it would be difficult to stop a terrorist group or lone wolf intent on deadly destruction.
“The biggest lesson out of 9/11 is that anything is possible,” said Irene Navis, Clark County’s director of emergency management and homeland security. “It can happen anywhere and it can happen in any community, but terrorists seem to like high-profile communities.”
She counts Las Vegas among them.
The Homeland Security Department ranks Las Vegas as the nation’s 21st most likely terrorist target, but Navis said she thinks the community should be in the Top 10 because it has 22 of the world’s 25 largest hotels.
Here are examples of what has changed in Las Vegas since 9/11:
Hospital preparedness
Shortly after the attacks, UNLV associate professor Christopher Cochran, who teaches health care administration, found that the 11 area hospitals would be easily overburdened by a mass casualty event that produced at least 1,000 victims.
There are now 18 area hospitals equipped for acute care. But more significantly, the hospitals participate in a medical surge area command structure that Clark County established two years ago, headed by University Medical Center emergency preparedness coordinator Ryan Turner.
During a major incident, whether it is a terrorist attack, flood or earthquake, representatives of each hospital will meet to share information on how many beds, nurses, drugs and medical supplies they have to address the emergency. Patients will be distributed accordingly. If there is a shortage of medicine and if the president declares an emergency in Las Vegas, the medical surge team can obtain needed supplies within 12 hours from the Strategic National Stockpile managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health and Human Services Department.
Still, Turner said that because Las Vegas hasn’t experienced a mass casualty event, it isn’t known how many victims would overburden hospitals.
“We have the resources now to meet day-to-day needs,” he said. “But when you’re talking about 1,000 people coming into the health care community at once, it’s all hands on deck. It’s all about getting resources.”
Fruits of federal funding
When the 9/11 attacks occurred, the state had only $5.5 million for disaster relief. Money for preparedness training and equipment for emergency personnel was sorely lacking. Young fumed in 2003 when Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge gave Congress a list of 30 cities he thought should be eligible for $500 million in counterterrorism funding, and Las Vegas wasn’t on the list.
United Airlines flight attendants Deanna Rhodes, left, and MaryAnne Houser, vice president of the Association for Flight Attendants in Las Vegas, console each other as they join hundreds of police and fire personnel at the Clark County Government Center amphitheater during a memorial service Monday, Sept. 17, 2001, where Las Vegas' public safety community honored the firefighters and police officers lost in the terrorist attacks.
Since 2004, Nevada has received $131 million in federal homeland security money, and Las Vegas has received an additional $48 million since 2006.
Money has been spent on counterterrorism personnel, training sessions such as a regional multiagency anthrax exercise scheduled for March, robotics to diffuse explosives, and programs such as “See Something, Say Something,” which encourages the public to report suspicious activity by calling 828-8386 or accessing the website SNCTC.org.
Homeland security money is the reason Southern Nevada has an All Hazards Regional Multiagency Operations and Response unit, known as ARMOR. The team has experts in chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological monitoring and identification who will respond in protective gear to potentially hazardous incidents, such as envelopes with suspicious powders.
“We have the capability to put our task force on something quickly,” said Metro Capt. Brett Primas, who oversees the unit. It is equipped with sophisticated mobile devices to quickly identify suspicious substances at the scene. “Before 9/11, it would take hours or days before we could figure out what a substance was,” Primas said.
But terrorism funding is vulnerable to federal belt-tightening just like everything else. The state, which received $20 million in homeland security funds in 2006, received just $11 million this year.
Identifying potential targets
Through a post-9/11 initiative called the Nevada Silver Shield critical infrastructure protection program, authorities have identified more than 2,200 important sites and assets statewide that, if destroyed, could cripple the state’s economy or cause widespread injuries or deaths.
With the help of a consultant, the state has developed plans to protect 1,422 of them, including 952 potential targets in Clark County. The remaining assets should have protection plans in place within 18 months.
Nearly one-third of the assets are government facilities, 398 involve emergency services, 265 are commercial structures and 210 involve water.
The agency has gathered blueprints of the facilities, locations where dangerous chemicals are stored and lists of individuals who can be called in emergencies. Videos of the facilities are handy so that police officers and firefighters know rapidly what they’re dealing with.
“Our enemies are good at exposing our vulnerabilities,” said Primas, who also directs the Silver Shield program. “Our goal is to shore up our vulnerabilities.”
Hotel safety
Jeremy Jackson and Roy Coronado put a message of solidarity on the Caesars Palace marquee Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001, on the Las Vegas Strip in response to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
Writing for The Atlantic magazine in January 2005, former National Security Council counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke offered the hypothetical example of how easy it would be for a female terrorist to walk into a Strip casino and blow herself up, causing dozens of fatalities.
Major resort companies train employees to recognize and report suspicious activity, such as someone photographing part of a casino that normally doesn’t attract attention. These video lessons, made available through law enforcement, have also been used by taxicab and limousine companies, among others.
Shortly before Derk Boss left Las Vegas in 2009, where he ran security for the Stratosphere and Arizona Charlie’s, he co-wrote an article for the online magazine Security Management that detailed many of the security improvements made by casinos since 9/11. Among them have been increased use of smart security cards for access to rooms or buildings, photo ID check-in where guests’ names are run against those on a government’s terrorist watch list, and security posted at elevators to check guests’ room keys.
Boss wrote that some hotels have mandatory daily room checks if a guest posts a “do not disturb” sign for a significant amount of time and doesn’t respond to knocks or phone calls. Resorts have increased patrols, including use of bicycle-riding security in parking areas, and some properties use dogs trained to detect explosives. Although layers of security have been added in parking garages, randomly stopping incoming vehicles and checking trunks, which began shortly after 9/11, have been significantly reduced.
“There’s definitely been a falloff,” said Young, now corporate vice president of security for Station Casinos. “There was a time in the initial aftermath of 9/11 when resorts took extreme precautions until guests felt a certain comfort level. Stopping a vehicle is pretty rudimentary, but it’s distasteful to a lot of people who are on vacation. As time marched on and 10 years have passed since 9/11, resorts have found other things securitywise to take its place.”
Resorts use more surveillance cameras to focus on food lockers, chefs as they cook and food serving lines at buffets to guard against food tampering, Boss wrote. Some properties have added televisions and radios to their surveillance rooms so they can monitor breaking news that may affect those resorts, he wrote.
•••
Las Vegas is safer on other fronts, too.
Before 9/11, most local physicians didn’t have the ability to quickly identify whether patients were victims of an anthrax outbreak or certain contagions. State law requires Nevada doctors to take courses related to terrorism, including how to recognize common symptoms and deliver treatment associated with exposure to chemical, biological or radioactive agents.
Airman 1st Class Sean Romero with the New Jersey Air National Guard, 177th Fighter Wing, salutes as the national anthem is sung during a candlelight vigil at the Thomas & Mack Center, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001, to honor those killed in the terrorist attacks.
The Southern Nevada Health District can field inquiries about potential health hazards thanks to a phone bank that, during the valley’s hepatitis C outbreak in 2008, fielded up to 4,000 calls a day. Dr. Lawrence Sands, the chief health officer, said the phone bank, operated by the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, would prove useful in the event of a terrorist attack.
Having said all this, Las Vegas — and any community, for that matter — is still vulnerable to a terrorist attack.
“We’re always worried about the lone wolves who aren’t connected to any terrorist cell or organization but just decide to do something and then do it,” Damarin said. “Any community is concerned about that.”
It is why Damarin and his colleagues in counterterrorism and emergency management stress the importance of the public watching out for and reporting suspicious activity to authorities. Examples of what to look for can be found at homelandsecurity.nv.gov.
It is still relatively easy for consumers to obtain combustible fertilizer containing ammonium nitrate, which Timothy McVeigh mixed with readily available race car fuel in 1995’s Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
An airborne bioterrorist attack could be virtually impossible to prevent, although its success would be limited by the difficulty of releasing harmful biological or chemical agents in large enough quantities to cause widespread damage. But bioterrorists could have a high level of success with an indoor attack because there aren’t wind or harsh weather conditions to contend with.
Although information technology specialists have worked hard to erect firewalls to protect computer systems, fear persists that cyberterrorists could disrupt the valley’s utilities, transportation systems, communications or hospitals.
The task of staying ahead of potential terrorist threats is never complete, says C. David Shepherd, former security director at the Venetian who is now CEO of the Las Vegas security firm Readiness Resource Group. He recalled serving in Vietnam, making sure that whatever he was defending was secure both inside and out.
“It’s a continuous process,” Shepherd said. “You might think you’re done, but you’re never done.”
Discussion: 9 comments so far…
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Since Metro's policy is to keep people in a building if a suspicious device is found outside, all the terrorists have to do is put such a item outside the target building to up the casualty count. In other words, if the WTC was in Vegas and someone left a suspicious device outside that building before the planes hit, then the 911 casualty count would have been greater. Good thinking Keystone cops of Vegas.
nothing is fool proof, even the FBI wont admit they screwed up BIG TIME during the 9/11 timeline and i'm not talking about whats mentioned in the article. the alarm was going off in washington but nothing was changed or altered to prevent this tragedy.
Comment removed by moderator.
I believe the only thing that has kept Vegas safe from an attack is that too many Arabs come to Vegas to do their thing. If you think about it, it would be very easy to use a car/truck bomb, suitcase bombs, etc. to place in any hotel on the Strip. You can have a gazillion video surveillance cameras everywhere (which they do) but they would not prevent an attack from happening. Hell, a car bomb on the street would cause many casualties.
I use to hear stories after I moved to Vegas on how there was activity at McCarran on 9/12 - even though flights were grounded. The rumors were all the rich Arabs were getting into their private jets and going home. But, as I said, these were rumors.
When I lived and worked in Chicago, in highrises, at work we had drills at least once a year to evacuate the building. After 9/11, it was twice a year. And, in the event of an emergency, we were always told to stay put until we were told to evacuate. (After 9/11 my friends and I decided BS to that!! Grab your sh*t and get out!!). I asked the fireman one time what if the 2-story lobby of the building was blown to pieces by a "cab bomb" taking the last stairwells out (we had a cab stand in front of the building I worked in and 98% of the drivers were of Middle Eastern descent) - how do we get down to the street. He didn't have an answer but said we would have to ask the police what to do. The Police!!! WTF!! It is not THEIR job to help us out of a building, it is the fire department's job. I never felt safe again working 50 stories up. But believe it or not - Metro's policy to keep people in the building is the norm everywhere. That's what happened on 9/11 at the WTC. The people were following what they were told in the event of an emergency. Luckily, many did not follow those orders and got out when they could or else the death toll would have been higher.
PS After 9/11 and reading stories of people trying to go down dark stairwells - we all decided to start carrying small flash lights in our purses or bags and ALWAYS made sure our cell phone batteries were charged up every day. Not that it would save our lives, but you never know when those little mag lights would come in handy.
Funny how we have learned to live in a different world in the last 10 years.
There really are 2 points of view, and there was one view exposed in this article. The other view? Is the SPIRITUAL, PROPHETIC VIEW, one of which America has just about totally divorced itself from. Warnings from the Holy Book, Nostradamus's Quatrains, and those who attempted to warn others have been in front of your very faces to judge and discern, yet, a People, so consumed with themselves and distractions, lacked the focus and comprehension to decipher words and codes that have stood the test of time! SHAMEFUL!
Is Las Vegas safer or the United States of America any safer, after 10 years of recovery and analyzing? In my humble opinion: NO.
Those who were the true culprits and designers of this insidious event are about 3-5 steps beyond the leadership that is at the public front. They are so behind the scenes and continue to make our planet the miserable place it is, they are incredibly powerful and still in control.
Did you ever wonder how the great scientists of hundreds of years ago were able to do what they did? They realized they had to deal with the spiritual/religious aspects and energy elements to move forward creating the foundations of the sciences we have today.
The September 11th Event is a very sad time in our history, and there was warning. I personally grieve at the drop of a hat, and pray people will become more sensitive.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
I seriously doubt if Islamic terrorists give Las Vegas a second thought. They have bigger fish to fry. But if you feel the need to fear, go for it. Our own criminal element is pretty scary.
No major terrorist attack by Muslim nuts on US soil since 9/11.
For 8 years, Bush as a leader did a remarkable job on that.
Now Obama as a leader is continuing that remarkable job.
yeah rock, after 9/11, bush was on the ball!
The entire Terror thing is concocted nonsense to keep the sheep, sheep. They allowed 9-11 to happen and then have had 10 years of Police State heaven since. That is what the evidence shows without any doubt.
I am so tired of it. I want my country back.
Comment removed by moderator. Misstates facts.
As London and Madrid have discovered, men with backpacks full of explosives are very hard to stop. There are preventive measures that can be taken with stopping terrorists reaching the US and monitoring people buying explosive chemicals.
However, a determined cell can and will always find holes.
However, with respects to Las Vegas and terrorist threats I always thought the security guards checking cars was a huge waste of time. The only way Las Vegas could be made safer from terrorists is to remove many freedoms from individuals.
Hotels would have to screen guests and their luggage. Helicopter flights would be banned.
Life can't be made safe, however fear can kill freedom.
Muslims do not hate America or Americans, they hate the state of Israel and anyone who supports them. Mohammed Atta and company loved to visit Vegas before the attacks. What does that tell you? I also see plenty of Saudi Arabian students and other Middle Eastern nationals where I have lived. They love American culture. I have no idea where this myth about Muslims hating American "freedoms" came from. Seems like government propaganda to me.
As for trying to stop every terrorist attack, all you can do is use common sense. You can't stop every one. London has a lot more sensible precautions in place to stop terrorism that America doesn't utilize. The problem with this country is that it prefers brawns to brains. Sending some guards out with submachine guns to patrol isn't going to stop terrorists. That's what third world countries do. You have to think smarter.
The terror attacks on 9/11/2001 were a strong reminder that we live in a dangerous world there is always some angry hate the world people out there and no matter how vigilante sometimes they get lucky. We as Americans should quit pointing fingers at each other and not surrender our civil right in the response to this terrible day as to our freedoms are what makes us the best country in the world.
Anthrax attack, DC sniper shootings, Fort Hood shooting, Rock.
The authoritative voice in the WTC telling people to "evacuate in place," helped kill many people.
I did not know, keeping people in a building was a universal policy. If someone was going to use gas (like in the Japan sarin gas subway attack) or toxins, NBC, keeping people in the building will make sure the people there soak up enough radiation, racin, anthrax, poison gas, etc. The best thing people could do in such a situation is to ignore authorities and charge the exit doors.
@mred, do you know that a lot of stadium and nightclub deaths come from people rushing the exits and trampling one another? That's something that you haven't thought about.
Mred, I said major terrorist attacks by Muslim nuts on US soil.
If you have information that Muslims were behind the Antrax attack then call immediately the FBI. They believe it was a mentally sick Antrax scientist. They is no evidence that Muslims were behind that one.
DC sniper shootings known motives was that he killed his ex-wife in the shootings and wanted money from the US government. Again, no Muslim motive is here.
You may have a point with the Foot Hood shooting. That guy was Mulism. He did it for Allah.
I guess if you want to say that is a Muslim terrorist major attack then you could. That was on Obama's watch.
@samjung
There is no evidence, no reports, no surveillance whatsoever to indicate that the terrorists partook in the decadence of Las Vegas. They stayed in off strip dive hotels.
Las Vegas may have just been a place they felt they could blend in without being noticed. The idea they came here to enjoy their last days on earth with strippers, gambling, booze, etc. are myth.
I remember that day, it's one of those things that you will always remember where you were and what you were doing.
@TomD1228, see what I'm talking about? You still refuse to understand the issue. If you want to live the rest of your life thinking that these people hate the average American, so be it. It's not a secret that most Muslims say one thing in public, and do another in private. Muslims love American culture and our lifestyle. If they didn't, they wouldn't live here. Many of them do drink behind closed doors. Didn't Osama have a large collection of adult movies? I mean, doesn't that prove my point?
The issue of the state of Israel and Palestine is their main grievance. That's what all the terrorism is about. After numerous Arab nations kept getting defeated by Israel, they gave up and started supporting terrorism as a military option. Big business and the government, however, don't want the American public to understand this because it wouldn't be in their best interest. It is a total mess, and even I don't have a clue how this ever can be fixed.
@Samjung
Wow, I refuse to understand the issue? I merely stated the known facts about the 9/11 Terrorists and Las Vegas. I made no reference or statement that muslims hate Americans. I made no comment regarding anything else you said. My remarks were in reference that you stated Muslims love to visit Las Vegas and used Atta and his cohorts visits as validation. Once again, thru 1000's of hours of investigation in Las Vegas, there is NOTHING to indicate they visited Las Vegas for the "fun aspect". If they watched porn and drank shots of whiskey in their hotel..that means they embraced Las Vegas? LOL. Muslims may very well love Vegas and all it has to offer, but as far as the 9/11 Terrorists, there is no evidence they hit the gambling scene, the stripper scene, the drinking scene. The only evidence indicated they stayed in a dive motel and visited an Internet cafe off the strip. Stop labeling me as anything except reporting the KNOWN facts.
Just for the record Samjung, I don't care if people are white, black, Asian, Jewish, Catholic, Arab, Muslim, etc. I treat all people with equal respect and friendship. Only the ignorant look at someone's religious or ethnic background only and make judgements.
As far as the Israeli /Palestinian conflict goes..it will probably never be resolved. There is too much hatred on both sides. It's become ingrained. This country cannot police the world anymore, nor should we. The conflict over there has become so nauseatingly old that I can't even read about the latest "compromise" knowing full well it will not last. Hate is a terrible thing. Life is too short to get yourself involved in it.
@TomD1228, Give me a break. You almost sound like you are defending these guys now.
I'm defending no one. Just reporting the known facts about the 9/11 terrorists. I didn't even read those comments before posting. Yours was the only post that stuck out because you stated something that isn't true about the 9-11 terrorists. Once again, there is no evidence their visits to Las Vegas were for fun.
WOW, you have the audacity to say that wasn't true? Get outta here.
You don't have proof to even prove what you are talking about is true. I can turn this around on you too.
blah blah effing blah!! As the mother of a United States Marine on that fateful day when the narcissistic "martyrs" of Allah MURDERED innocent people in His name - that's what I have to say to them and their fellow believers. I was stranded for 5 days in LV after 9/11 & overheard the hateful references to Americans in foreign accents when out walking on the Strip wondering when I'd get home to my family & my son at Camp Pendleton. It was a very dark time for my country and my family.
Those who forfeit liberty for the promise of security deserve neither.
The facts surrounding the events of 911 should automatically provoke suspicion -- perhaps the information linked below will provide insight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E3oIbO0A...
Enjoy.
: {
Osama bin laden was certainly as intelligent as he was evil. He identified gaps of protection. Our finance, military and government sectors. Osama bin laden's attacks have crushed the structure of civilized warfare. From this, an enormous quandry has arisen. Could a ethical and moral nation, have no real valid answers to recovering from the devastation al-Qaeda has inflicted upon our country?
The United States, has been the most moral superpower in the history of the world. However, our country has not been without fault. An example is, the detonation of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We cost the lives of tens of thousands of innocent Japanese citizens who were not a part of that warfare.
Have we learned our lessons from this? I, personally, believe we have, on the whole. Again, not without mistakes and some extremists in our ranks, we have fought the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by the rules of civilized warfare. Meaning that, hostilities must only be waged against enemy combatant forces.
But, are these same morals and ethics of our democracy going to be an integral part in the downfall of arguably the greatest nation that has ever inhabited this Earth? The ceremonies across America on the ten year anniversary of the 9-11 attacks prove that we are still a nation in mourning. Still, a nation who lives in fear. Still, a nation whose financial markets are in the virtual chaos as on the day the 9-11 attacks took place. Still, the same nation who has not been capable of defeating even the inner core of al-Qaeda.
Any loyal American with common sense knows that for our nation to truly begin the healing process, and to successfully move forward positively as a nation from the 9-11 attacks, we must first unquestionably defeat al-Qaeda. I now understand the gut-wrenching dilemma that President Harry S. Truman was faced with as he decided by extreme means to swiftly end the war with Japan.
Do we elect a president in 2012 akin to President Harry S. Truman, that would make hardline decisions towards countries that provide a safe haven or harbor al-Qaeda operatives? Would this include countries that launder monies for al-Qaeda operations that have the goal of destroying all of America, our allies, and our interests? Honestly, I don't know. I struggle with my morals and ethics over our country repeating actions that are of an unthinkable level. I struggle with my anger and frustrations over al-Qaeda's successes. However, to see the people of my country suffer deep anxieties over this past decade relating to the 9-11 attacks and its associated traumas, it is the most heartbreaking feeling I could ever have. Yes, Osama bin laden is dead. But, after all this time has passed, the killing of Osama bin laden was symbolic. Again, a decade has passed, and I still see our country suffering. Al-Qaeda is alive and well, and still running amok around the world.