The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- About $1.3 million in federal anti-terrorism money hasn’t bought any bullet-proof helmets for Baton Rouge police and sheriff’s deputies, but has paid for almost $30,000 in catering for the parish Office of Emergency Preparedness.
“Here we are almost three years after 9-11 and we don’t have the equipment it takes to react to what we believe are the most probable events from a terrorism standpoint that could occur,’' said Col. Mike Barnett, chief criminal deputy for the Sheriff’s Office. “Our guys are going to do exactly what they did in New York City. They’re going to respond, and they’re going to be injured and die.’'
Parish OEP records for the past three years show $21-a-gallon coffee and $13-a-gallon tea, and more than $1,600 in restaurant tabs, The Advocate reported Sunday. It said they also show hundreds of dollars in trips to the grocery store for cookies, pickles and other snacks; a $180 artificial Christmas tree; and one $76 shopping trip for Skittles, York Peppermint Patties and other candies.
The two agencies expected to be first on the scene in a terrorism-related emergency -- the Baton Rouge Police Department and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office -- have added just eight radiation detectors, six halogen lamps, two generators, a ram for breaking down doors and protective paper suits that give wearers a short time to escape danger.
Baton Rouge’s law enforcement agencies aren’t alone.
Although Louisiana has received more than $86 million in homeland security money since 2003, more than one-third of the state’s 64 sheriff’s offices haven’t received any of it, the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association said. The Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police hasn’t done such a survey, but its leaders say departments throughout the state share the problem.
Two weeks ago, representatives from those organizations convinced Major Gen. Bennett Landreneau and Col. Jay Mayeaux of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to consider additional money for law enforcement and to pay for a liaison to represent officers and deputies on homeland security issues.
“The mere fact that a third of our offices report no appreciable funds jumps out at you that there’s a problem,’' said LSA Executive Director Hal Turner. “It was just very clear that something had to be done.’'
There have been complaints nationwide that the federal funding process is too slow. East Baton Rouge and seven other parishes still lack authorization to spend a $7.1 million Urban Area Security Initiative grant awarded this spring.
Much of that money is dedicated to first responders.
And other first-responder agencies are pleased with work so far. The Baton Rouge Fire Department, for example, is for the first time getting federal money for new equipment, spokesman Barry Mounce noted.
“The fire service is just now starting to reap the benefits,’' Fire Chief Ed Smith said.
OEP officials defended the spending on food, candy and decor.
The catered meals were provided during training sessions about weapons of mass destruction and other anti-terrorism issues.
“We’re talking about first responders here,’' said Keith Cranford, assistant to Executive Director JoAnne Moreau . “These folks work hard -- often through lunch. They’ve dedicated themselves to what they’re doing. If we can cater lunches for them, then we’re going to do it.’'
Lt. Col. Greg Phares of the Sheriff’s Office said that when he’s run training sessions, “lunch is on your own.’'
More than $1,600 went to restaurant dining for meetings of an OEP committee, which dined on catfish, shrimp and bread pudding. There also was a dinner at Outback Steakhouse for Mayor-President Bobby Simpson and several OEP staffers.
Purchase orders generally didn’t specify the use of groceries bought by the office, including boxed macaroni and cheese, deli pork, peanut butter, cookies, iced brownies, sodas, chocolates and other candies.
The candy? “That’s for sugar fixes to keep them going,’' Moreau said.
The largest single nonequipment expense is a $5,000-a-month contract with Dr. Lewis Minsky to keep an eye on the parish’s $130,000 anti-terrorism medicine cabinet and forge a coalition of medical personnel. As coroner, Dr. Louis Cataldie did that for free; he left office last year for a state job.
Minsky, who is not coroner, was the only consultant on the payroll until two weeks ago, when OEP signed a contract with WAFB-TV chief meteorologist Jay Grymes to provide weather information.
For $60,000 a year, Minsky, of Baton Rouge Family Medical Center, oversees the parish’s supply of vaccines and medications, coordinates a committee and networks with hospital executives, doctors and nurses.
“I don’t have a medical background -- I don’t think anyone does,’' Moreau said. “We’re practicing medicine without a license now; that’s a joke we say all the time because the newest entity for us to work with is the medical community and it’s a daunting task.’'
More than $3,000 provided cell phones to OEP staffers -- a service most law enforcement agencies can’t afford to offer their own employees. Other office supplies have included a $130 personal calendar, engraved brass nameplates for office doors, a Palm Pilot and a leather journal.
Moreau said the phones replaced less expensive pagers because “we have to be able to get our folks in at any point.’'
Meanwhile, the Police Department, Sheriff’s Office and other agencies still don’t have anti-terrorism equipment they’ve asked for.
As an example, OEP -- citing a deadline -- gave the Sheriff’s Office just three days in January to provide detailed specifications for ballistic helmets, gloves, a headset system and bullet-proof vests for its SWAT officers, according to a timeline provided by the Sheriff’s Office.
OEP didn’t submit the list to the Louisiana State Police for approval until more than two months later, the timeline shows, and took another month to make clarifications. State Police approved the purchase in May, but the Sheriff’s Office still hasn’t gotten the equipment.
Frustrated by the delays, the Sheriff’s Office spent its own money for gas masks, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office provided money for bullet-proof vests -- an order which took only weeks to come through, and already have saved one deputy in a shootout.
The Sheriff’s Office also has been fighting for more than a year to get a patrol boat for the Mississippi River. Authorities say it is needed to protect potential targets including the Exxon Refinery and the Interstate 10 bridge.
Moreau and Cranford say the boat required additional approval from federal authorities and was ordered a few weeks ago.
Other gear on the requested list includes protective coveralls, an infrared camera, a cargo trailer and other items for the Police Department, and additional self-contained breathing apparatuses for the Fire Department.
Police in Baton Rouge and Shreveport recently joined to ask for a $7 million Justice Department grant for a radio system that will let all law enforcement agencies in the state communicate with each other during crises. It’s something first responder agencies had also identified as a priority for OEP, but haven’t gotten.
The equipment delay poses a double whammy for law enforcement agencies, since much of the federal funding they’ve been getting for years through the U.S. Department of Justice has been diverted to homeland security. Five years ago, the Police Department and Sheriff’s Office combined got $1.6 million; this year, they are splitting less than $250,000.
Although Barnett of the Sheriff’s Office is frustrated by the situation in East Baton Rouge Parish, he said it’s a national problem. “I don’t really want to get on the mayor or the Office of Emergency Preparedness,’' he said. “The system is bad as it’s been set up.’'
Baton Rouge Police Chief Pat Englade declined through a spokesman to be interviewed. Police spokesman Cpl. Don Kelly said he believes homeland security programs are continuing to improve.
“I don’t think it’s our job to second-guess or criticize other agencies and how they choose to expend their money except to say that all of us who are in this business have to be held accountable for our decisions on how to spend money that’s been appropriated for homeland security,’' Kelly said.
“Anybody who is in a position to spend it has a moral and legal obligation to make sure that it’s being spent wisely, prudently and consistently with the purpose for which it was appropriated.’'
Simpson praised OEP, whose officials he appoints, and blamed a federal bureaucratic bottleneck for delays in getting needed equipment.
He and Moreau point to the gear in the hands of first responders, such as a bomb suit, self-contained breathing apparatuses for the Fire Department, protective paper escape suits for all departments and an assortment of search and rescue equipment.
“I think we’re one of the foremost offices in the nation,’' Simpson said. “We’ve been acknowledged as being at the forefront and leading the way on homeland security in a lot of respects.’'
OEP’s Cranford said he believes much of the criticism is coming from law enforcement officials who are new to the process and don’t understand the complicated federal requirements.
“Homeland security begins at home,’' Cranford said. “It starts at the street level. It doesn’t start here, it doesn’t start at Washington, or any of those other places. It starts with those cops out on the street, the firemen and EMS. We’re not doing our job if we’re not getting them the best equipment as quickly as we can.’'