U.S. Response:  Emergency Officials Say They Need Money

Regional emergency response officials went before Congress yesterday to push for additional federal funding to bolster homeland security efforts (see GSN, July 1).

“We need to get dollars from the federal government, and we need to get them fast,” said Orange County Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo during testimony to the House Select Committee on Homeland Security.

Orange County has received $875,000 of the $12 million pledged by the federal government, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Los Angeles Police Department was promised $6 million in homeland security funding from Washington, but it has yet to see any of the money, according to LAPD Lt. John Karle.

“Somewhere between Congress spending the money and first responders cashing the check there is a terrible bottleneck,” said committee Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif.).  “The state of California does not have the kind of financial statements that permit us to go in and look and see where that money is; we certainly couldn’t track it as we could a UPS package,” he added.

Cox is developing legislation that would streamline the funding process, the Times reported.

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney appeared on behalf of the National Governors Association and said that many states distribute their federal funding well.  Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.) questioned Romney for spending $900,000 in homeland security funding to secure the resort area of Oak Bluffs Marina in Martha’s Vineyard.

“That’s a prime example of what happens when the federal government gives appropriations directly to communities,” Romney said (Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, July 18).

When it comes to antiterror funding, lawmakers said they need to pay more attention to the needs of communities.

“We’ve been listening too much to the bureaucrats at the top and not enough to the first responders,” said Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.).

New Rochelle, N.Y., Fire Commissioner Ray Kiernan said his department had not received federal support.

“We’ve seen no money, no guidance, no standards,” Kiernan said.  “When all these plans don’t work — we’re the guys that inherit the mess,” he added.

Adding to communities’ financial problems are the periodic nationwide terror alert warnings that are issued by the government.  Romney told the House committee that state and local officials want to know if an increased security threat is targeted at specific areas of the country or types of targets, such as bridges, while police and fire officials said moving up to the “orange,” or elevated, alert level costs them a lot of money and resources, AP reported.

“Somebody else is determining the heightened alert, shouldn’t somebody else be determining the cost?” Jaramillo said.  “If they’re calling the shots at the federal level, they have to come up with the money,” he added (Lolita Baldor, Associated Press/Salon.com, July 17).

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U.S. Response:  FEMA Considering Sirens to Warn of Terrorist Attack

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is considering whether to use Cold War-era sirens, originally intended to warn of impending nuclear attack, for use in providing terrorism warnings, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, June 6).

A number of cities, such as Chicago and Dallas, have upgraded their outdoor warning systems to be able to broadcast voice announcements, AP reported.  The siren systems could be particularly useful in alerting those who are not watching television or listening to radio.

“If you’ve got a weather radio in your house, it doesn’t do much for you when you’re at the ballpark,” said Kerry Wagnon, director of public safety capital projects in Oklahoma City.

In addition to sirens, officials are also considering broadcasting terrorism warnings via electronic text messaging and through a reverse 911 system that would telephone people, said Jo’Ellen Countee of the Washington Emergency Management Agency.  “A lot of people want sirens — people who are old enough to remember sirens,” Countee said (Tim Talley, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 15).

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