Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014 | 2 a.m.
As an American landmark, the Strip is in the limelight. That’s true for tourists, but also for terrorists.
The question for Metro Police is: When terror threats emerge, how should police share them without needlessly scaring tourists and residents?
Two recent but vague references to Las Vegas from terrorist groups show how police work to balance those sometimes competing goals.
“It’s a work in progress that continues to improve,” said Sheriff Doug Gillespie, who plans to attend an FBI briefing on terrorism this year. “We have to continue working very hard to enhance information sharing.”
Las Vegas has been talked about as a potential terrorist target since law enforcement leaders reported the 9/11 hijackers visited the city several times before attacking the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
On a recent visit, FBI Director James B. Comey said terror threats on the Strip weren’t on the rise. But the week after, Metro issued a statement responding to an online post by ISIS sympathizers that listed the Strip as a potential target. Metro said it had not spotted any specific plans to carry out an attack on the Strip.
But the department doesn’t publicly address every threat. Metro, for example, didn’t respond when a new English-language al-Qaida magazine featured a guide for making car bombs and suggested Las Vegas casinos as targets.
Capt. Christopher Jones, who oversees the department’s counterterrorism operations, says police don’t want to desensitize the public.
“If you continually do that and continually increase your threat posture every time a little bit of chatter comes through ... it’s going to become white noise to the public,” Jones said.
The biggest single day for local counterterrorism teams is New Year’s Eve, when more than 300,000 revelers pack the Strip. Metro prepares for the celebration all year with training exercises and simulations. On New Year’s Eve, all Metro officers are required to work 12-hour shifts.
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