As America confronted a new enemy in the days after 9/11, the government pledged cash for every city, county and state to get prepared – for anything.
So the city of Atlanta received nearly $24 million for antiterrorism training and equipment.
But night-vision goggles for the Hartwell Police Department? HAZMAT suits for Cochran, population 5,150? Are we safer because they are now equipped to deal with a chemical or nuclear attack in Albany? And what about the more than $100 million for a statewide communications system that auditors say is rarely used?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reviewed how the state spent $305 million from the two primary Homeland Security state grant programs during the past decade. That figure is a subset of at least $437 million in federal security funds the state received. The AJC found expenditures ranging from a few thousand dollars for low-tech security, like a chain link fence around the 911 center in Oglethorpe County, to millions in counter-terrorism gear, most of which — blessedly — has gone unused.
In Tuesday's newspaper, the AJC takes a deep look at how Georgia's Homeland Security state grants have been spent. It's a story you'll get only by picking up a copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution or logging on to the paper's iPad app. Subscribe today.
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