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Boise State hosts Homeland Security Conference
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The topic: security vs. freedom.
The experts: locally and nationally-renowned.
From Nov. 20-21, the Homeland Security Conference offered a time
where the Boise community could ask questions of experts on the USA
PATRIOT Act and the Department of Homeland Security.
Hosted by the Student Programs Board, featured speakers Boise
Police Chief Don Pierce, ACLU President Nadine Strossen, Boise Fire
Battalion Chief Bruce Rankin and FBI Counter Terrorism Force member
Danny Coulson spoke about the controversial issue of safety vs.
freedom.
“We wanted this to be a sounding board for students and
faculty,” said Ryan McDaniel, SPB Lectures Coordinator.
Day 1
According to Pierce, the Patriot Act is
“misunderstood” and was hastily thrown together. But
Boise has not and will not follow much of it, he said.
The Boise Police Department has received significant amounts of
money because of the act – but only for anti-terrorism uses.
Pierce worried that the money will go to waste: decades ago, every
department received funds for chemical masks that now rust in
closets.
He would like to see the money go toward the overall police
budget. “Rapes still happen, murders still happen,”
Pierce said.
Answering an audience member’s question, “What are
the requirements to be in a criminal file?” Pierce emphasized
that the only way a person could get into that file was to commit
an actual crime.
“I don’t want the headlines Denver got,” he
said. Denver police had profiled several individuals who had later
been found to have no links to terrorism in the post-Sept. 11
era.
Next up Thursday night was ACLU President Nadine Strossen who
spoke passionately about how impressed she was with Idaho’s
delegation to Congress as opponents of the Patriot Act.
Ironically, she said, Sen. Craig (R-Ida.) belongs to the quartet
of barbershop singers that also includes Attorney General John
Ashcroft. But despite Craig’s musical affiliation with
Ashcroft, he politically disagreed with the Patriot Act, along with
Idaho members of the House and Senate.
She also found it ironic that Idaho enjoys an incredibly
conservative delegation but had one of the most anti-Patriot Act
congressmen in the Legislature. Rep. Butch Otter was one of the few
congressmen to refuse to sign the act – an anecdote Strossen
emphasized.
But the majority of her lecture focused on the constitutionality
of the act and “sweeping” new government powers granted
under the recently created Homeland Security Department, one of the
largest reorganizations in government since the Department of
Defense was created.
“I do not feel more safe and I genuinely feel less
free,” said Strossen about flying with new airport
regulations.
Day 2
Fire Battalion Chief Rankin kicked off Friday’s
discussion. Rankin’s presentation focused on how important it
is to have efficient emergency first responders in the event of a
terrorist attack.
“BSU is a terrorist target. Our bridges are terrorist
targets,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security, according to Rankin, has
given those first responders greater funds to deal with terrorist
disaster. Added Rankin, “Emergency personnel are the front
line for our nation’s defense. Think about this: every terrorist
activity that is noticeable will result in calls to 911.”
One way the Fire Department, along with Boise Mayor Dave Bieter,
plans to enhance response capability is by consolidation. This
would mean having advanced medical personnel on board each fire
truck during an emergency, due to the fact that firemen can only do
basic emergency medical care.
FBI Counter-Terrorism unit member Danny Coulson completed the
late-week talks by detailing his group’s job in the
field.
Amy Olsen
News Reporter