[LINK] be careful what the govt bequeaths

[Jan Whitaker]

This is sad and probably what John Howard has in mind with his recent 
pre-election pork barrels of money. Then he can blame the states 
(again) for having things fall apart. In Howard's mind: win win:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/12/AR2007081201244_pf.html
Upkeep Of Security Devices A Burden

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 13, 2007; A01

In 2003, the 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Federal+Bureau+of+Investigation?tid=informline>FBI 
used a $25 million grant to give bomb squads across the nation 
state-of-the-art computer kits, enabling them to instantly share 
information about suspected explosives, including weapons of mass destruction.

Four years later, half of the Washington area's squads can't 
communicate via the $12,000 kits, meant to be taken to the scene of 
potential catastrophes, because they didn't pick up the monthly 
wireless bills and maintenance costs initially paid by the FBI. Other 
squads across the country also have given up using them.

"They worked, and it was a good idea -- until the subscription ran 
out," said Mike Love, who oversees the bomb squad in 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Montgomery+County+%28Maryland%29?tid=informline>Montgomery 
County's fire department. At the local level, he said, "there is not 
budget money for it."

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the area has received 
more than $1 billion in federal money to strengthen first responders 
and secure the region. That money has bought satellite phones, 
radios, protective suits, water-security monitors and a host of other items.

But local officials are grappling with how to maintain the huge 
infusion of equipment. Like a driver whose 5-year-old luxury sedan 
has worn-out brakes, cracked tires and engine problems, local 
governments are facing hefty bills to keep their gear working.

The region has a long list of terrorism-fighting items that need 
parts and service. Officials recently set aside nearly one-fifth of 
the area's latest federal homeland security grant -- about $12 
million -- to cover maintenance over the next two years.

The shopping list includes $120,000 in new batteries for emergency 
radios; $400,000 to maintain chemical and radiation monitors for 
rivers; and $250,000 in replacement equipment for top officials' 
videoconferencing system.

Wanting to avoid a maintenance time bomb, governments are starting to 
plan for the end of the decade, when state and local jurisdictions 
will probably be forced to shoulder most of the costs.

"There's an agreement we're going to start weaning ourselves, such 
that more and more, we'll pick up" the maintenance costs, said 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Anthony+Griffin?tid=informline>Fairfax 
County Executive Anthony H. Griffin, who heads a committee of local 
government administrators working on the grants.

In some cases, officials are slowing homeland security projects while 
the question of upkeep is worked out.

This year, for example, the region asked the 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Department+of+Homeland+Security?tid=informline>U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security for more than $13 million to build a 
broadband wireless network for emergency workers. In the end, 
officials decided to spend just $1 million -- on plans that will 
determine the maintenance costs.

Behind such caution is concern that the anti-terrorism dollars that 
have rained down on the D.C. area in recent years might begin to dry 
up. 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Michael+Chertoff?tid=informline>Michael 
Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, warned cities recently 
that the grants were not like Social Security checks that would 
arrive year after year.

"In fact, as communities begin to build their capabilities, we should 
see them getting less money," Chertoff said at a news conference.

The FBI bomb-kit program shows how even the best-intentioned plans to 
equip first responders can go awry over the simple question of maintenance.

The program was requested in 1999 by Congress, which had been alarmed 
by a nerve-gas attack on a 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Tokyo?tid=informline>Tokyo 
subway that killed 12 people and sickened thousands. Legislators set 
aside $25 million for the FBI to prepare state and local bomb squads 
to deal with weapons of mass destruction.

The FBI developed a special suitcase of tools that bomb squads could 
take to scenes. The core of the kit was a rugged wireless laptop 
loaded with files describing explosives and chemical and biological agents.

The kit also included a digital camera so technicians could snap a 
picture of any strange device and e-mail it to FBI bomb experts for 
quick advice.

"It was a unique communication tool," said FBI Special Agent Barbara 
Martinez, a top official in the agency's Critical Incident Response Group.

The "Cobra kits" were handed out to nearly 400 state and local bomb 
squads across the country in 2003. Each came with a prepaid 
three-year service agreement and a one-year wireless card.

But apparently, no one realized that the squads might not have the 
cash to maintain the wireless subscription.

Local officials said it could run $60 a month per kit, totaling a few 
hundred dollars for a squad with several kits. Also, the kits needed 
periodic updates, which could run into the hundreds or thousands of 
dollars, they said.

"It was quite expensive for the local jurisdictions to absorb the 
cost," said Jerry Swain, bomb-squad commander for 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Loudoun+County?tid=informline>Loudoun 
County.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Montgomery?tid=informline>Montgomery's 
Love said his department had to stop paying for the system in 2005, 
just two years after getting it.

"Basically, we're still dealing with the same budget we had 10 years 
ago, except for personnel costs," he said.

The D.C. and 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Arlington+County?tid=informline>Arlington 
County police bomb squads also dropped the wireless subscription. The 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Prince+George%27s+County?tid=informline>Prince 
George's County bomb squad chose to replace that system with other 
technology purchased through federal grants, a spokesman said.

Some local squads said they had more pressing needs than maintaining 
the system, which they described as occasionally helpful but not essential.

"To say it's something that's going to make or break us on the scene, 
I would say not," Swain said.

Others said they found the kit valuable because of its wireless 
connection to other bomb experts and its copious reference material.

"We could carry around 10 textbooks, but it's all there" in the 
computer, said Sgt. Thomas Sharkey, Metro's bomb-squad commander. 
Metro has continued to maintain its kits, as have bomb squads run by 
the 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Fairfax+County?tid=informline>Fairfax 
County police and 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Virginia+State+Police?tid=informline>Virginia 
State Police.

Jeff Fuller, a spokesman for the National Bomb Squad Commanders 
Advisory Board, said that many squads had found the kits too 
expensive to maintain but that he didn't know how many stopped using 
it. Martinez, the FBI official, also said she did not know.

Martinez said the kits were initially successful in teaching bomb 
technicians about weapons of mass destruction. Now, though, some of 
the kits are sitting unused, she acknowledged.

"It is sad -- now you've got that paperweight doorstop out there," she said.

But the FBI made it clear from the start that local and state squads 
would eventually have to pick up the maintenance costs, she said. 
"Maybe people didn't read the fine print," she added.

FBI bomb technicians across the country have continued to maintain 
their kits and can take them to scenes to assist, she said.

Was the project a bad use of $25 million? No, Martinez said, but she 
added, "I wish it came with the maintenance thing."

Because of advances in technology, the 2003 kits would need 
significant upgrades to be effective now, she said.

In this year's application for its homeland security grant, the 
region's bomb squads included a request to upgrade their Cobra kits 
and pay for wireless cards. But local officials say it is not clear 
whether they would use their funding award on the project because 
they have higher priorities for their squads, including protective 
suits and robots.

"The last thing we want to do is put money into something the grant 
is not going to keep up over time," said Loudoun County Fire Marshal 
Keith Brower, who heads a regional committee overseeing bomb squads. 
"We're flagging those issues right now."


Jan Whitaker
JLWhitaker Associates, Melbourne Victoria
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
personal: http://www.janwhitaker.com/personal/
commentary: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/

Writing Lesson #54:
Learn to love revision. Think of it as polishing the silver for 
guests. - JW, May, 2007

'Seed planting is often the most important step. Without the seed, 
there is no plant.' - JW, April 2005
_ __________________ _