HARRISBURG Report: Security requires cooperation

Better communication among agencies is needed, a report says.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Pennsylvania has been proactive in confronting many homeland security-related issues, but the state's long tradition of home rule might complicate further cooperation, says a recent think-tank report.
"The States and Homeland Security: Building the Missing Link," issued last week by The Century Foundation, argues that states need to coordinate with local governments and encourage cooperation among various agencies to ensure a comprehensive response to homeland security threats.
"The problem is that -- and this is something that a lot of states share as well -- in Pennsylvania there is a large number of local governments. It is impossible and unfeasible for local governments all to have full capacity to deal with every problem," said Donald F. Kettl, professor of public administration at the University of Wisconsin and executive director of the Working Group on Federal Challenges in the foundation's Homeland Security Project.
"But there's also this strong tradition of home rule, as in: 'We've got our government, we'll do things our way, we don't want to have to deal with the people next door,'" Kettl said. "When a serious problem arises, the last thing you need is that as a basic instinct. ... We're talking about something that has to be done at a higher level."
Disagreement
David Sanko, director of Pennsylvania's Emergency Management Agency, disagreed with much of the report, particularly the idea that home rule prevented the state's municipalities and agencies from cooperating.
"I think they didn't talk to the right people or didn't talk to enough people," Sanko said. "We have a commonwealth form of government where 2,500 municipalities are providing services. There is always rivalry between communities, ... but when it comes to homeland security, I think everyone is on the same page and everyone has the same job, and that is to protect the citizens."
Sanko pointed out that Pennsylvania established regional counterterrorism task forces some three years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Those task forces were among the things singled out in Kettl's report as a "success story."
Kettl's group examined homeland security practices in Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington state and Wisconsin, finding some innovation at all levels of government, but not enough communication among various agencies and government entities.
The report praised Pennsylvania for its West Nile virus tracking system and noted the state's active cooperation with university researchers on homeland security issues.
The Keystone Homeland Security University Research Alliance was created in January by Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh.