Bush administration refines terror alerts

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The Bush administration has apparently refined its approach to terrorism warnings by not issuing nationwide alerts as frequently as it once did.

USA Today noted about six months ago, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was concerned local governments and citizens were starting to ignore his office's nationwide terrorism alerts and the color-coded warning system accompanying them.

But after issuing four terror alerts during the first eight months the system was in place, the administration has now gone nearly six months without any alerts.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse told the newspaper rising police overtime and other costs contributed to the push for more focused and discreet alerts. But he said the much-criticized color-coded alert system has not been dumped.

Roehrkasse told USA Today: "We are not doing away with the system. The process has become more refined, and information is being passed on more efficiently to the people who need it, in the places where it is needed."