After Sept. 11, many Americans speculated on where and when another terrorist attack would come.
Now there’s a place for Michiganians to send theories.
Rep. Andrew “Rocky” Raczkowski, R-Farmington Hills, wants ideas. At an e-mail account he instated last week, Raczkowski already has reviewed 25 messages.
“It’s a cheaper brainstorming method to find out if there are any possibilities in areas we may not know or think about,” he said. “Looking to citizens is the best place to come up with ideas.”
Michigan recently received $30.7 million in grants from the federal government to combat terrorism. How the state will use the money specifically, has not been hammered out.
“We’ll improve our planning and our preparation as well as disease surveillance, lab efforts and communication networks,” Geralyn Lasher of the Michigan Department of Community Health said.
More ideas always are helpful, Raczkowski said.
“The government does not always know the best way to solve problems,” he said.
The city of Lansing already has plans in case of terrorist activity, Lansing police Lt. Ray Hall said.
“We have contingency plans in place in the unlikely event of a terrorist attack,” Hall said.
“We rely on a good working relationship with the FBI and other agencies that have been feeding us a steady diet of information.”
Lansing will likely receive a portion of the federal terrorist funding simply because it’s the state capital, Hall said.
“Our agency works with the state police and other officials to protect the government buildings downtown,” he said.
But preparation in case of terrorist attacks began long before Sept. 11.
“Everybody hopes we never have to implement it,” Lasher said.
“But Sept. 11 taught us that this is a real threat and we need to have a system in place.”
Hall recognizes the benefit of making people more aware of their surroundings and suspicious behavior, but sees little value in having people expound upon their fears.
“I think that the exercise will reinforce the fact that we need to be mindful of our surroundings,” he said. “We all need to be on alert for anything that’s unusual.”
Raczkowski’s e-mail account can be reached at Rockyplanners@cs.com.
