HOMELAND SECURITY: Guide duplicates information (1.1 Mil for free info)

[The Straight Story]

HOMELAND SECURITY: Guide duplicates information

Disaster advice already available in phone book, on Web sites
By FRANK GEARY
REVIEW-JOURNAL

At a time when Nevada officials are clamoring for more homeland security money, the Metropolitan Police Department plans to spend $1.1 million to print a disaster guide for the public even though the same information is available for free.

The Nevada Commission on Homeland Security last month approved the Police Department's request for federal funding to pay for printing information in the local phone book that informs citizens what to do if Las Vegas is hit by natural disaster or a terrorist attack, or encounters a chemical or biological hazard.

The department originally requested $2 million, but a regional emergency-management committee cut the request in half.

The Home and Neighborhood Disaster Safety and Security, or H.A.N.D.S.S., guide informs residents how to prepare their families, offices, homes, churches, neighborhoods and even pets for a large-scale disaster.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/May-09-Mon-2005/news/26464257.html