Utah's purchases are not unique, nor are the criticisms of prodigious spending.

In many ways, the equipment purchased by Utah departments — a mix of basic tools, such as up-to-date radios, and more advanced "toys," like laptop computers or the aforementioned Segways — are similar to what departments in other states bought.

Segways, the two-wheeled personal transport vehicle that can travel as fast as a sprinting human, became a hot topic in California after a number of bomb squads bought them.

Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy, who is also a member of the state's bomb squad, said the Segways can prove valuable for bomb technicians, who are required to wear protective suits weighing more than 80 pounds and walk anywhere between 300 and 1,000 feet.

"When you put on the 80-pound bomb suit in 90-degree weather and walk to the bomb, you're about dead when you get to it," he said. "You can be dehydrated to the point of exhaustion."

Other purchases that raised eyebrows include Missouri's purchase of hazard materials suits — those white, bulky plastic suits with headgear and breathing apparatuses — for all of its state police officers, even though it is questionable whether the hundreds of state troopers will ever wear them even once, much less all at the same time.

But personal hazmat suits often can't be interchangeable. They must fit each individual correctly, especially the masks, Utah state emergency services spokesman Derek Jensen said.

Additionally, hazmat suits are needed for many other law enforcement tasks, such as chemical spills or drug-lab raids, which are permitted as long as the equipment has a core purpose of homeland security.

"Obviously, there is no way of telling when something (related to homeland security) is going to happen," Hamlet said. "They would rather have us use the equipment and get to know it, instead of having it rot."

On the flip side, many departments used their money to fill holes in important areas, especially communications. In Utah, the state's Homeland Security and Department of Public Safety, county and city police and fire departments spent a lot of their money on communication equipment, training and high-tech vehicles.

Various Utah County emergency and police agencies together spent $1 million on an interoperational communications system, for example. The system will allow departments to communicate with each other, and officers in outlying areas to remain in contact with their dispatch centers and other, neighboring agencies.

Pay later

Other information obtained by the newspaper shows: