U.S. Homeland Security has sent at least $195 million to Wisconsin since 2003. The money bought everything from a dog kennel and "Hazmat story tellers" to a fleet of bomb vehicles, a leadership class for teens and a $19,500 bomb suit.

But the number of local agencies, governments and grants involved, as well as a lack of state legislative oversight, make the money difficult to track.

For example, in 2004 Dane County Emergency Management bought the Dane County Sheriff’s Office a $145,000 bomb robot using federal "domestic preparedness" funds from 2002 that pre-date Homeland Security grants, said David Janda, acting head of Dane County Emergency Management.

Janda said Homeland Security grants sound like a single program. But they’re not, he said. "It’s many, many programs in what used to be many different agencies and departments that have been reorganized. Within Homeland Security grants, there are numerous programs. Dane County has been applying for these grants, using them for multiple different projects and contractors and purchased equipment."

Grants to Wisconsin have dropped from a high of $52 million in 2004 to a low of $16 million in 2008 because of changes in the federal formula for distribution.

Since 2003, Dane County has used just short of $7 million in Homeland Security money for armored vehicles, an 18-person van to haul equipment and officers to events like Freakfest, plastic sheets and the dog kennel, as well as $117,193 toward increased security at Hydrite Chemical in Cottage Grove and $40,000 toward security at the Alliant Energy Center, among other things.

The Hazmat story tellers cost $3,900 for a one-day session for Dane County Emergency Management and the Madison Fire Department conducted by two Texans with hazardous materials experience.

Ed Hauk, of Houston, told how he survived an explosion at an ice cream production facility and wound up outside in a pile of debris, Janda said, and Robbie Thompson of Tulsa, Texas, shared how he and his crew members rescued a woman and her baby from a collision with a gasoline tanker. "These and more than 40 other case scenarios were discussed in order to promote awareness and safety among our local first responders," Janda said.

Of the $7 million that Dane County Emergency Management received, the Sheriff’s Office spent more than $1 million — $19,500 was used in 2002 to buy one bomb suit. A $384,158 grant in 2004 bought a kennel and muzzle for the bomb detection dog, a Bomb Squad Response Vehicle, communications for the bomb trucks and other things.

The Sheriff’s Office now has two bomb trucks. Sheriff Dave Mahoney said Dane County agreed to serve the region in return for the money and the equipment.

Lt. Gerald Hundt, a Dane County bomb squad commander, said the squad covers roughly 23 to 26 counties. "In the world of bomb work, time matters," Hundt said. "So anything that we can do to reduce our response time, including having two vehicles to achieve that goal, is a good thing for both public safety and for the multiple counties in Wisconsin that we serve."

A $270,000 grant to Dane County’s crime scene unit bought a 2005 GMC Yukon and a 2005 GMC TC 7500, as well as evidence collection supplies and equipment for large-scale crime-scene events, a metal detector and radios for the trucks, according to a list from Mahoney.

Dane County Coroner John Stanley said his office received $150,000 for equipment, supplies, a transport trailer and tow vehicle to support mortuary operations in a major event with deaths. "This is the same kind of equipment that we use in our everyday operations but multiplied to handle up to 50 victims," he said.

The D-FIRST (Dane-Fatality Incident Response Support Team) was "deployed to Juneau County for the Zapata landfill search, to Lake Waubesa during the recovery of the two men and car, during the Kelly Nolan search/recovery and during the recovery of skeletal remains from Lake Kegonsa State Park last summer," he said.

"Many of the items that we use have a useful life-expectancy or expiration date," Stanley said. "Batteries have to be replaced, plastic items become brittle and break in cold weather. Specimen containers lose their seal and personal protective items (like gloves) deteriorate and fall apart. As we re-supply our regular uses, we rotate the new items through the D-FIRST cache."

All perfectly appropriate, said Wisconsin Homeland Security program director Greg Engle. "Bomb incident response and post-incident evidence collection are considered integral to the Homeland Security mission," he said.

Homeland Security money is not supposed to buy basic law enforcement supplies such as weapons, squad vehicles, sirens and restraints, but Engle said some equipment has dual use in both crises and everyday activities. "This is appropriate because regular use of equipment means that responders remain familiar with it, trained on it, and use it," he said.

In La Crosse, Homeland Security spent $250,000 on a counter-drug program and integration of a Wisconsin National Guard ropes course into a five-day READY (Responding to Emergencies And Disasters with Youth) camp for teens.

Among the camp’s objectives: "Prepare youth for emergencies according to their cognitive, social, and moral development ... promote students to take an active role in creating a positive school and community environment and speak out against bullying and violence ... (and) increase interest in health and public safety careers."

Mary Jeane Ehrsen, executive director of the Center for School, Youth & Citizen Preparedness, said the grant was also used to develop a course for teens at the National Guard Air and Army base at Volk Field in Juneau County "to encourage leadership skills, reinforce the incident command system, how to overcome obstacles and challenges in life, and also to make positive choices in risk-taking behavior and preventing use of drugs and alcohol."

Office of Justice Assistance spokesman Ryan Sugden said the camp has to be seen in a broader context. "Citizen preparedness is an essential element of homeland security in Wisconsin," he said. "READY camps and other youth initiatives help prepare our communities and our schools for all varieties of emergencies."

Michael Greenberger, director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Health and Homeland Security, said Homeland Security grants get heavy oversight at the federal level. "But it’s really hard for the federal government to make any over-arching assessment of how individual jurisdictions are working," he said. "That should be the role of state legislators or the governor."

Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said the Legislative Audit Bureau did a cursory review of the Homeland Security money in 2006. He promised that the Legislative Audit Committee, which he co-chairs, would consider scrutinizing the money this year. "It is something that definitely merits review," he said. The bureau will also release an annual audit of federal funds in the state this spring, said co-chair Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma.