Unlikely Terrorist Targets Getting Homeland Money

McLean County, Kentucky is perhaps the last place youd expect to find terrorists plotting to do their evil deeds. In the County seat of Calhoun, Main Street is filled with pickup trucks and tractors regularly pass in front of the courthouse. With a population of about 10,000 people, its one of the Commonwealths smaller counties. Those rural stereo types havent stopped the State Department of Homeland Security from spending 4 days in the county, auditing security at schools, government buildings and water treatment plants. Its a procedure thats happening across the state, and while you may wonder if its really necessary to spend money auditing a place like McLean County, local officials say it is the right move. "Were not expecting international terrorists to attack McLean County," said Emergency Management Director David Sunn. A different breed of terrorists, like school shooters and disgruntled citizens are a much bigger worry, says Sunn. What the audit will do is point out the security problems, and address ways to address them. A list of proposals will be made available to the County in late June. Among the expected suggestions: finding a way to quickly lock down area schools. Most of the classroom doors in McLean County schools have locks, but they require keys that teachers dont have access to. One proposal is to leave all doors locked, and put a wedge in the lock that prevents it from latching. In case of an emergency, the wedge could be pulled, and the classroom locked down. Its a tactic that local officials say makes a whole lot of sense in the wake of this Springs Virginia Tech shooting. None of the classroom doors there locked. That massacre left 32 people dead in a number of different classrooms.