Do you know much about the local Homeland Security program?

We reported recently that $3 million in federal funds will help fund the Sacramento Regional Office of Homeland Security. But we wanted to learn more about the local program and its dozens of training classes for local agencies.

The Sacramento Press sat down with Sacramento Police Deputy Chief Sam Somers and department spokesman Norm Leong to delve into the details of the regional office’s work.

Sacramento Press: Can you provide details on how the Sacramento Regional Office of Homeland Security will spend the $3 million in federal funds?

Deputy Chief Sam Somers: The way that we spend that is in a couple different areas. [One area is] dealing with planning issues related to homeland security. Some of that has to do with preparedness in the region. The other part of it is used for training...There’s also specific funding that is used for an intelligence gathering unit that’s put together — and that’s the Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center, which is basically run by the Sheriff’s Department. [The city of Sacramento] also has somebody on RTTAC. It’s a requirement of the [federal Homeland Security grant] that 25 percent of the funds be used towards that investigative body.

At one point, we got a lot more [federal Homeland Security] money. It’s a lot less now — we’re barely hanging on. Initially, we were on the chopping block. But we actually were able to maintain our viability, and I think we have some good things to come when it comes to providing training for the region.

SP: I was reading the website, and the Sacramento Regional Office of Homeland Security holds dozens of classes for law enforcement agencies--

Somers: --and fire.

SP: What kinds of things do local agencies learn in these classes?

Somers: It depends on the time and place. Some of it has to do with incident command systems. Part of the stuff is mandates that come down from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or from the federal government through the National Incident Management System.

One I just saw is swift water rescue...You’re expanding the capabilities of the fire department [so] that they’ll be able to perform in different environments.

And again, you can’t predict where it’s going to happen. Who would have thought the World Trade Center would have come down? And how do you prepare for dealing with the debris and rubble, or trying to do evacuations there? So, they do the Golden Guardian Exercise, which is the statewide initiative...They’ll pick a location, they’ll run a live exercise in a sense that they’ll have role players and everything.

SP: What is that called?

Somers: The Golden Guardian Exercise. It’s required by the state that we show our readiness to respond to different disasters as a region. And we try to involve everybody.

And it’s kind of like a softball team. You can hold all the practices you want. But the way you find out you’re ready is you actually have a game. And then [after] the game, the coach says: You know what, we weren’t very good at hitting...Now you can actually work on something because you’ve had an opportunity to diagnose what the problem is, or [diagnose] the shortcomings or deficiencies that you have in the organization.

SP: I was reading the website again and I found an intriguing class title. There’s a class called “Taming the Wild Zebra” and it covers bioterrorism. How do local agencies use that course in their work in the Sacramento region?

Somers: I haven’t a clue. I’d have to go find out what the specifics of the course are. Sometimes it’s all about marketing.

SP: Can you explain the purpose of the regional Homeland Security office?

Somers: It’s to provide coordination for our response to dealing with terrorism acts, natural disasters or manmade disasters.

And obviously what’s one of the big disasters that can happen in the city of Sacramento? Flood.

SP: What are the homeland security threats in the Sacramento region? You mentioned flooding.

Somers: That’s probably the biggest prevalent one. You also look for locations that have a large population that show up at one time. A school can be a location where you have a homeland security issue. The community center down here on J Street [can be a location]. When you have a large event — depending on what it is — it could be a homeland security issue. When you have a large event or large gathering, it’s an opportunity for someone to do something. And so, you have to be prepared. We have a major international airport...you have different seats of government; you have a celebrity who is governor of the state. The government of the eighth-largest economy in the United States is centered right here in Sacramento. So, you have a lot of targets.

SP: Can you just briefly explain what incident management is?

Police Department spokesman Norm Leong: The ICS system was actually started by California fire departments. The name of it was kind of changed to NIMS, for the national program based on the California system. But a program like Homeland Security allows everyone to be on the same page throughout the nation to operate underneath that same system.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.