By Dave Thompson
Bismarck, ND – Governor Hoeven has named state emergency manager Doug Friez as the director of ``homeland security.''
Friez's appointment follows the lead of the federal government, in setting up someone to coordinate security in the wake of last month's terrorist attacks. Hoeven says Friez will be working to coordinate preparedness and response to any possible security problems.
"We want to make sure that all our activities, whether it's state agencies, federal agencies, law enforcement, military and the private sector, that all our efforts are well-coordinated. And this is a team effort. And Doug's the guy that's going to make sure that the team effort is well-coordinated."
Friez' job will be to coordinate activities between the state, local governments and the private sector on prevention of and response to any problems -- in the wake of last month's terrorist attacks.
Friez says he thinks prevention and public awareness will be very important:
"And we would just as soon not respond to a weapons of mass destruction event or a terrorism event. We think that if we can turn up the heat a little bit in terms of awareness and prevention, that may be extremely helpful."
Hoeven says the state already has well-developed plans for emergencies. And he says getting the word out to the public on the need to be prepared will also be a priority.