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American Morning

Huntsville Provides Model for Homeland Defense

Aired September 28, 2001 - 10:17   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.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: That terrorism conference was held in Huntsville, Alabama; it's one of the many cities where people are training to respond to possible attacks.

Leon Schenck is the deputy chief of police in Huntsville. He used to work for the FBI, where he directed the development of all policy for a natural -- national response, excuse me, to a threat of weapons of mass destruction. He joins us live this morning.

Sir, let me ask you first about the point Ann Kellan just made in the end of her piece. This technology is being studied, some people are testing with it. Do we see, in the wake of this, an alarm being raised and police departments and other emergency preparedness units across the country suddenly rushing to buy this technology?

LEON SCHENCK, HOMELAND DEFENSE MODEL CITY: Absolutely. I think this technology is essential to help mitigate a weapons of mass destruction attack. We have no idea what types of attacks we're going to get, and we have to be prepared, in all contingencies, to really address any type of attack, whether it's chemical, biological or radiological.

KING: And help me, sir, where do you draw the line, and if you have any advice for people in my business, because in the make of these terrorist attacks we obviously are exploring the continued threat, asking questions about whether cities, states and the country are prepared. At the same time, when we show pictures like that and training like that, it may alarm many of our viewers. They may think there is another threat out there.

Where do you draw the line before being prepared and being alarmist, if you will?

SCHENCK: Well, I think the key to this whole situation is the knowledge. Not to be frightened, but to be aware of what could happen to you. And that's what we're trying to do here in Huntsville; we're trying to educate our first responders as well as the public what to expect in case there is an attack.

Advice I would have for you is to be completely aware of your surroundings; be cautious; be attuned to what's going on around you. One of the things that we've enjoyed in this country is the ability to walk freely and not to really worry about what's going on around us. Well, with what happened on the 11th, we have to kind of change our mindset and start thinking that somebody might be around to harm us. We have to be attuned, alerted all the time, and just keep a watchful eye as to what's going on around us. Watch suspicious vehicles, people who are -- don't belong, people who are acting suspiciously. That is one of the ways that we have to be vigilant in our country now.

KING: And sir, help me: You just said there that you want to reach out to the public. Obviously you train your officers and others involved in the emergency response. How do you communicate with everyday members of your community -- get them the information that they need just in case something like this happens?

SCHENCK: Well, we have several devices here in the city of Huntsville that are already in place for natural disasters. We have an alarm system that notifies our citizens in the event of inclement weather. We have an emergency management agency here that also mans that. We are now in the process of building a Web page for all of our -- where our emergency responders will be aware of all the events that happen around the country, cautions they should be taking, new events that are happening that might affect us here in Huntsville.

In addition to that, we have a very good, educated population here in the city of Huntsville, that is really in tune and aware and wants to know what's going on in the city.

KING: Leon Schenck, deputy chief of police in Huntsville, Alabama, thank you very much for your thoughts here on this very important issue; and perhaps we'll check back in the weeks and months ahead to see how your preparedness effort goes. Thank you very much.

SCHENCK: Thank you, John.

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