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CNN Live At Daybreak

New Security Measures Have Baltimore Scrambling for Finances

Aired January 23, 2002 - 05:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Since September 11, U.S. cities have been struggling to pay for new security measures.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve visits Baltimore to see how well prepared it is for a possible terrorist strike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A century and a half ago, these cannons protected Baltimore. Now there is a new battle against terrorism and new defenses are being established.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our main operations center.

MESERVE: Another relic, a civil defense center circa 1952, has been updated to serve as a command center in any terrorist attack.

RICHARD MCCOY, BALTIMORE EMERGENCY DIRECTOR: We brought in fiber optics. Now we're able to monitor our downtown area and some streets and highways.

MESERVE: The city has also set up a biosurveillance system which compiles data on everything from animal carcasses to school attendance to emergency room admissions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We monitor things like cardiac arrest, chest pain, respiratory distress, stroke, seizures, that sort of thing that could indicate any kind of a chemical or biological incident.

MESERVE: In a recent CNN.com survey, a panel of independent experts rated Baltimore well prepared for a terrorist event. But so much is left to do, the city's director of emergency management won't even hazard a guess on a price tag.

MCCOY: I personally don't talk about money, I talk about need. I talk about problems. I don't talk about money.

MESERVE: The mayor, however, does talk money. Martin O'Malley talks about it a lot.

MAYOR MARTIN O'MALLEY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: You cannot support a robust homeland defense on property tax and bake sales.

MESERVE: Baltimore is a sprawling port with rail lines and chemical plants and a web of bridges and tunnels. The price tag for beefing up protection since September 11, $6 million. The biggest line item -- police overtime.

The city has scrambled to pay for it, freezing hiring and postponing capital expenses while coping with the double whammy of reduced tourist revenue. Meanwhile, it's had to meet basic needs.

O'MALLEY: You know, we can't afford to take officers off the dangerous corners that are out there anyway, where the chemicals of heroin and cocaine have been killing people in my city for a number of years. So we need that ability to do the prudent thing in times of threat without bankrupting the city in the meantime.

MESERVE: The long term solution, in the view of O'Malley and many mayors, block grants from the federal government to help defray the costs of homeland security.

O'MALLEY: As I read the Constitution of the United States, to provide for common defense is a pretty basic responsibility of the national government.

MESERVE: But without federal assistance this city, like many others, has met the new security demands as best it can because the potential cost of not protecting its citizens is simply beyond mathematical calculation.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Baltimore, Maryland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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