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Las Vegas, Nevada
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has a “presence” in each of the major urban cities where the likelihood of a terrorist event exists. Each of these cities also has a detailed protocol for federal authorities to rapidly mobilize and assemble to manage any suspected terrorist activity. When the feds arrive, they’re in charge and the local police force moves to the background to provide logistical support.
The vast resources of the federal government converged on Las Vegas. City and County political leaders, determined to protect Las Vegas’ reputation as a safe convention, gambling, and vacation destination were alarmed a large, emergency federal presence could disrupt business as usual. Their greatest fear? No more business as usual. Once gone, how long—if ever—would it take Las Vegas to recover?
Las Vegas was recovering from the Great Recession of 2008.
To press their case and concerns, the local politicians leaned on the members of the state’s congressional delegation.
The strategy worked.
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The next day, the Governor, flanked at a press conference by the entire congressional delegation, the City Mayor, and members of the City Council announced the start of a “Terror Response Simulation.” The purpose of the exercise was to permit federal, state, and local authorities to carry out their respective roles in a simulated terror event. The parking lot of the Metropolitan Police Department’s administrative headquarters, located some distance from the famous Las Vegas Strip and older Downtown area, was transformed into a Command Center from which the simulation would be run.
The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security was called to the stage by the Governor. What followed was an explanation of the simulation and what the citizenry should expect over the next week. All the casinos and hotels carried a news loop on their property video systems where the press conference occupied a prominent place.
A simple message was broadcast locally and nationally. There was no real terror attack. No one needed to be fearful. This was only a simulation. The simulation provided everyone the opportunity to prepare for the unlikely event of a real attack. This was a good thing. Go about normal business. Gambling, attending conferences, enjoying the many diverse restaurants, and experiencing the many wonderful sights and opportunities afforded by Las Vegas, in short, business as usual.
It was all untrue.
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A federal crash team from Homeland Security entered its third day at the site of the blast on the UNLV campus. The first two days were spent picking apart the debris in the blast zone, like a giant game of Pick-Up Sticks.
Workers wearing haz mat suits and ventilators carried each piece of debris to the decontamination station. A sample of radioactive material was taken, the debris cleaned, and then packaged for safe disposal at one of the appropriate sites in a three-state region. An elaborate 3D model of the blast area was constructed. Locations of radioactivity were identified and linked to each piece of contaminated debris the workers removed.
By the end of the third day, the crash team worked its way to the basement of the frat house, having removed all the many layers of debris fallen inward as a result of the blast. Expended low level radioactive waste material was scattered throughout the basement in a pattern suggesting the use of a shaped charge of C4 plastic explosive.
The crash team found pieces of the detonator, battery, and cell phone dispersed throughout the blast radius. They also found a significant quantity of plastic particles, none larger than a thumb nail, in colors of red, green, white, and black.
Work progressed sufficiently to compare the expended radioactive material surviving the blast with the medical waste retrieved, packaged, and eventually transported by Safety-Keep in its Las Vegas office. The experts agreed. With a high degree of probability, the materials at Safety-Keep and UNLV were consistent in origin, manufacture, and use.
By the end of the week, the blast zone would be free of all debris and radioactivity. What little remained of the building’s basement and foundations was surrounded with construction fencing and wind screens designed to mitigate airborne dirt and sand from the site. A common practice in the Las Vegas Valley.
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At the Command Center site, the parking lot was filled with large white trailers hooked to temporary electrical grids, generators, fiber optic cables, and satellite dishes. The noise produced by the generators and large air conditioning units made normal conversation difficult. At the request of federal officials, Metro PD erected a secure zone surrounding the parking lot. Federal communications officials swarming the scene explained the security was to prevent visitors to Metro headquarters from interfering with the simulation. However, everyone knew the security was designed to exclude members of the press.
For the first two days of the simulation, the perimeter of the parking lot was dotted with the satellite and support vehicles of the national news corps. There were hourly briefings conducted for the press who were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of prepared materials distributed throughout the day. No one could say federal officials failed to communicate in a timely manner.
The ruse of a simulation was so successful—and believable—the national news organizations retracted their satellite dishes, removed their make-up, pulled up their stakes, and left for more important stories elsewhere. The simulation, and all of its supporting activities, became a non-event. Even the local press stopped their coverage.
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Members of the crash team working the UNLV site made their way to the Command Center when their work was completed at the site of the former frat house. As they were cleaning, recalibrating, and stowing their equipment for its next possible use they noted the site had a slightly elevated level of background radioactivity. The difference between what they expected and what they measured was on the cusp of being statistically significant. No one expected they were in the presence of another dirty weapon. They chose to ignore the finding.
It was the Command Center for goodness sakes.
As they wrapped up their work for the day, a group decided to take in the waterworks at the Bellagio. Night came early in late November and there was a distinct evening chill in the air. The air was much cleaner there than on the east coast. And that evening, there was not a single cloud in the sky.
Returning to the Command Center after their brief respite, one of the group called out, “Look at the Santa decorations. That dude is really laughing.”
It was Las Vegas after all.