Salt Lake is put on new list for high terror risk
Move may bring area grant for security issues
Last year the department made 45 cities or regions eligible for a competitive counterterrorism grant program. This year, the list has been expanded to 60 areas that can apply for the nearly $782 million available, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The urban area grants are one of the department's most popular — and most intensely debated — programs. The department divides the regions at highest risk of a terrorist attack into two tiers. The seven highest-risk areas — including Los Angeles, New York and Washington — will be competing for about $430 million this year. The remaining 53 will compete for about $352 million. The department plans to release the list today.
The list has grown and shrunk in recent years, based on decisions the department says are not the result of specific threats or concerns but that reflect an overall analysis of threat data.
"It doesn't mean that terrorists have their eyes on us," said Nicole Hunter, a Homeland Security spokeswoman in Salt Lake City.
Other regions added to the list this year are: Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y.; Austin and Round Rock, Texas; Baton Rouge, La.; Bridgeport, Stamford and Norwalk, Conn.; the Hartford, Conn., region; Louisville and Jefferson County in Kentucky and an adjoining area in Indiana; Nashville, Davidson County and Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Richmond, Va.; Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario, Calif.; San Juan, Caguas and Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; and Toledo, Ohio.
Every year, the list pleases and angers elected officials based on which cities are added or dropped. But this year, Congress insisted that the department include more cities.
In adding new regions to the list, officials are helping to fund counterterrorism efforts in communities that could not afford them otherwise, said Salt Lake police Detective Jeff Bedard. He said the state could use money to help protect a number of high-profile structures.
"The way we view it is that it's beneficial to Salt Lake City, its residents and visitors," Bedard said. "It's one of these situations where you can only plan to do it right once. If you get it wrong, and you don't take the basic precautions, that's when you end up regretting it."
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, said he is thrilled that cities from his state will receive counterterrorism money. Last year, there were no cities from his state on the urban area list.
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