During the events of 9/11, evil was dropped on America’s doorstep in an unprecedented form.

Five years later, the terrorism still resonates and although the blanket of paranoia has begun to subside, the residue lingers.

Whidbey Island is comparatively insulated geographically, but each time a jet plane flies overhead, residents are reminded that a portion of the island is always on high alert.

“Even before September 11, NAS Whidbey was always in a positive security force protection posture to protect our people, aircraft and facilities,” said Kim Martin, Naval Air Station Whidbey public affairs officer.

While the U.S. was reeling from the terrorist attacks in the days following Sept. 11, stories of heroism were widely reported alongside the mounting death count. Firefighters and law enforcement personnel were just doing their jobs, but their lead by example helped revitalize the nation. Even on Whidbey Island, on the opposite side of the continent, gratitude flowed.

Joe Biller, Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue chief, said the public’s awareness has markedly grown in the last five years.

“The system’s always been there and the kind of individuals you saw, and the heroism you saw,” Biller said. “But I think the public awareness was gratifying to the people doing the job.”

Inherently self-effacing individuals constantly deflecting praise, local firefighters graciously accepted the gratitude, but insisted they just carry out their duties everyday to the best of their ability.

“That is kind of the mantra of people in emergency services,” Biller said. “They like what they do, but they don’t necessarily want a whole lot of notoriety. But the public’s perception of it has been very nice.”

Emergency services has always been scrutinized. Firefighting agencies often don the white hats in the public’s mind, but one screw up can change all of that. Biller said residents were candid in their appreciation of the local efforts after 9/11.

“We did have a lot more people going out of their way to say thanks or tell us we’re doing a good job, which is always a perk for the volunteers giving their time,” he said.

Funds doled out by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after the attacks have not reached the local level in terms of technology and staffing, Biller said.

“It hasn’t trickled down, at least to our level in our rural community,” he added.

In the months following 9/11, the pendulum swung to hyper-awareness with the Anthrax scare and talk of biological terrorism. Whidbey Island was not immune to the fear.

“We went through that phase, but I think we’ve gotten back to normalcy,” the fire chief said. “We talked about all of that in staff meetings. Now, there’s more level thinking without overreacting or under-reacting.”

Roger Meyers, Whidbey General Hospital Emergency Medical Services manager, echoed Biller’s sentiments. The events of 9/11 remain at the back of every personnel member’s mind. A backpack sitting unattended on a ferry no longer prompts a Good Samaritan to investigate and locate the owner out of pure altruism.

“We approach every scene with more awareness,” Meyers said, adding that the scope of training and education has been expanded to include the threat of bio-terrorism.

Neo-Nazis give office head-start

Neo-Nazi activity in South Whidbey since 1984 has given the Island County Sheriff’s Office a head-start on dealing with terror, albeit on a domestic level.

“Maybe we’re a step ahead or we’ve at least had that in our consciousness. We’ve had them up here almost every December for celebrations,” Sheriff Mike Hawley said, adding that the neo-Nazi activity has dissipated in the last five years. The neo-Nazis gather to remember the fiery death of their dark hero, Robert Mathews, in an FBI shootout in Greenbank.

Since 9/11, the Island County Sheriff’s Department has fielded more questions from citizens regarding terrorism, which was expected. Questions generally center on concerns about local infrastructure. Hawley said the effects of 9/11 are still visible on Whidbey in the form of State Patrol presence at ferry docks.

“We’re doing what we always do,” the sheriff said. “We’re identifying people, looking for any potential law breaking which would include those types of issues. And we’re looking for any suspicious activities. Bottom line, five years later, not much has changed procedurally. Policy-wise, we’re just vigilant.”

Homeland Security money has been handed down, which has benefitted local law enforcement.

“We’ve had several hundred thousands of dollars infused into the county, not only us, but fire department and so forth,” Hawley said, although he lamented the haphazard distribution of money after 9/11. “There was very poor risk analysis and cost-benefit analysis in how the money was handed out. There was just a lot of money thrown out and I think a lot of it got misspent for stuff we really didn’t need.”

The sheriff’s office has used funding to bring a new microwave link online that will drastically improve communication between the sheriff’s office, Oak Harbor and other precincts. The link will bring immediacy and security.

“That takes us off a network that can be shut down,” Hawley said. “If I pull someone over and he says his name is John Doe, if his photo is up at the jail, they can send the picture out to the deputy and match it up to the person.”

Law officers

work together

The biggest change since 2001 has been the cohesiveness between local, state and federal agencies.

“All of a sudden, the federal and state agencies, and us, we’re all working together,” the sheriff said. “In the past, the FBI wouldn’t give us the time of day. Now they’re very interested in our local information.”

After five years, next month a new criminal justice computer database will be available to local law enforcement, which will provide access to FBI files and files from other participating agencies. The comprehensive database can take partial information and sift through the cyber-mountains of information, ultimately spitting out a list of people meeting the criteria. Hawley called the system the first workable integrated database accessible by his office.

“Twice a day, there’s a big data dump from all the participating agencies, and the goal is for every agency to be participating,” he said. “It’s huge.”

One of the biggest plusses with the new system is its ability to find relationships the suspect has had in the past, including all known addresses. What can be done in 30 seconds used to take months of flatfoot work.

“That, I would say, is the most important thing,” Hawley said. “The flow of information is just getting up to speed right now. It’s massive and it actually works really well. You can find these relationships that can help solve a crime very quickly.”

Terrorism and its threat has crept into the sheriff’s fiction writing. Plots and stories, however passe, are much easier to structure.

“From a writing point of view, it makes for an easy write, because you don’t have to explain motivation,” Hawley said. “You don’t have to come up with an ingenious plot.”