Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2003 | 9:16 a.m.
More than $7.1 million in federal homeland security funds were cleared this week for use by Clark County first responders.
The money, part of an Office of Domestic Preparedness grant totaling $17.9 million for the state, means that Clark County has received about one-third of nearly $30 million in federal homeland security funds allocated to the state since Sept. 11, 2001.
"The funding is definitely a help, but this is the first step on a long journey," state Homeland Security Advisor Jerry Bussell said. "Let's not kid ourselves into thinking that we're not still significantly underfunded."
The funds will be used to purchase personal protection suits, communications equipment, respirators and mobile command posts for Clark County Fire, Metro and Henderson Police, as well as other equipment. The money is the second infusion of funds over the past two years from the Office of Domestic Preparedness, but Clark County received only $2.1 million of the $6.7 million released to the state in the first grant.
Sheriff Bill Young said he expects to see improvements in how funding is allocated in Nevada, and that he would agree to be a member of Gov. Kenny Guinn's state Homeland Security Commission. The commission is expected to be appointed next week, state officials said.
"The money is important," Young said. "I've been disappointed with the amount of money Nevada has received. They've never taken the tourist population into account."
Young said he felt Clark County was snubbed by the Department of Homeland Security when Las Vegas was left off a list of 30 cities to share in $500 million in anti-terrorism money. Since that decision, Nevada's congressional delegation has pushed to have tourism taken into consideration in future disbursements of anti-terror funding.
Bussell estimates that Las Vegas sees an additional 250,000 tourists on any given day, and that Clark County has the most likely terrorist targets in the state in Hoover Dam and the Strip.
A joint communication system that allows all emergency responders to easily communicate with each other during a terrorist incident remains a priority, law enforcement officials said.
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