Ridge Defends Color-Coded Alert System

Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge defended the agency's color-coded alert system yesterday, saying officials carefully decided when to issue the warnings and thought it was important to pass on threat information to the public.

"People focus too much on colors. It could be numbers, it could be animals," Ridge said. "The American public wants us to focus more on the information."

The national alert system has been criticized by Homeland Security experts and some lawmakers as too vague to permit local officials to properly respond.

At a forum, Ridge and other top former Homeland Security officials said the department fell short by not having a central policy office to handle strategies. They said there could have been more efforts to regionalize initiatives but noted improved communications between local and federal officials.