County waits for security tools

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Snohomish County has received more than $6 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

But much of the equipment that money is earmarked for – such as gas masks for all police officers – hasn’t arrived yet.

“That’s pretty frustrating when you have the money but you don’t have the equipment,” said John Turner, Snohomish County’s Homeland Security manager for the Urban Area Security Initiative.

The delays stretch back as long as two years for some items, he said.

Local police, firefighters, public health workers and others face a similar wait for money allocated for next year in the 2005 homeland security appropriations bill signed by President Bush last week.

The delay is partly caused by the need to ensure that money is carefully spent on the county’s top security needs and because federal approval is needed for purchases of more than $100,000.

“We want it tomorrow, but that’s not the way it works,” said Roger Serra, director of Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management. “But it is coming.”

Some equipment Snohomish County wants, such as protective equipment for police and firefighters, is backlogged because agencies throughout the country have been ordering it.

“As fast as the equipment is arriving, we’re distributing it,” said Lee Hazlewood, a homeland security program manager for the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management.

“Not a week doesn’t go by where we don’t get equipment,” he said.

Major purchases, such as the marine patrol boat scheduled to be purchased with some of the county’s 2004 homeland security dollars, can take more than a year to get, Turner said.

Other equipment, however, such as portable decontamination showers for Providence Everett Medical Center and Stevens Hospital in Edmonds, has arrived.

Federal dollars have been used to boost security in other ways too, Serra said.

“We have made significant improvements in our response in Snohomish County, not only in the equipment but in training, planning and collaboration,” he said.

The county was the first in the state to craft a homeland security strategic plan to ensure federal money gets spent where it’s needed most, Serra said.

The strategy was shaped with county leaders, police, firefighters, public health experts, public works and others. It included an assessment of potential threats here and how vulnerable some sites in Snohomish County are.

The county Department of Emergency Management will not identify the locations for security reasons.

Federal sites, such as Naval Station Everett and the USS Abraham Lincoln, were not included. Neither were state ferries, which were considered out of the county’s jurisdiction.

The strategy helped identify what training was needed first, Hazlewood said. Nearly all police in Snohomish County have received training in recognizing potential explosive devices.

By the end of next year, most firefighters will get training in responding to chemical, biological and other weapons, Hazlewood said. Other training includes the large-scale three-day terrorism drill in July 2003 to test how prepared the county is for an attack.

“It’s very hard to predict what a terrorist will do,” Hazlewood said. “What we’re trying to prepare for is all the issues and concerns that are a priority for this area.”

Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.

Homeland security spending in Snohomish County

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Snohomish County has received more than $6 million to improve security. Here’s how some of that money was spent:

2001: $94,085 for protective equipment for police and firefighters, such as gas masks

2002: $286,956 for a 670-pound bomb robot nicknamed “Big Al,” for the county’s inter-agency bomb squad and decontamination shelters for two hospitals.

2003: $20,000 for a three-day terrorism drill for police, firefighters and aid workers. The drill showed a need for communications equipment.

2003: $1 million from an Urban Area Security Initiative grant for mobile communications vehicles that will help ensure that police, firefighters and other emergency workers can talk to each other at major disaster scenes and for other equipment.

2004: $300,000 from an Urban Area Security Initiative grant for a marine patrol boat for the Snohomish County coast.