Noted police chief slams federal-local partnerships.

• Position: SECURITY BEAT - Edward Flynn - Brief article

The man who led the local police response to the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon hopes the new administration does a better job of coordinating counterterrorism efforts with local law enforcement.

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"We have been essentially cut out of the homeland security discussion," Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn told a Cato Institute audience.

In three different jobs during the past six years he has banged bis head against the wall trying to make federal officials at the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice include local police in their efforts to root out terrorist plots.

Flynn was the Arlington, Va., chief of police on 9/11. His department gathered evidence at the crime scene and secured the area immediately surrounding the Pentagon. He went on to become the Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety.

Local police are often the first to uncover terrorist plots because plotters are usually engaged in some kind of criminal activity, he...