State Security Director identifies potential targets

Iowa’s homeland security advisor has been busy. Emergency management director Ellen Gordon says from drinking fountains to county courthouses, Iowa has twelve thousand potential targets for terrorists. Gordon says her agency aims to tally the number of places and events that could be targets of attack, and then to trim down that number. She says they’re trying to determine what things are important to protect to keep the state functioning in an emergency.Gordon says once the list of critical targets has been drawn up, it should be locked up, not made public. She says she’s a believer in being open to the public, but thinks in this case it should be kept confidential.The list of potential targets to consider for security will include state sites, but Iowa’s homeland security chief says counties, towns and even businesses should do their own lists.She figures they’re already ahead and have started seeing how they can secure businesses and towns, something the state could learn from. Gordon estimates that since September eleventh the state has spent about two and-a-half million dollars on security measures.