Daley Flunks Again. What's New?

On Sept. 11, 2001, New York fire battalion chief Dennis Devlin issued an urgent plea: His men were in ''a state of confusion'' and needed more working radios immediately. Yet, more than five years since Devlin and 342 other members of the city's fire department perished at the World Trade Center, the government says only six U.S. cities have fully answered the late fire chief's call by adopting advanced emergency communications systems.

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The lowest scores go to Chicago; Cleveland; Baton Rouge, La.; Mandan, N.D.; and American Samoa. The report includes large and small cities and their suburbs, along with U.S. territories.

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It's hard to pay attention to communications and emergency plans when you're busy installing spy cameras on all your street corners and "beautifying" your gentrified neighborhoods while filling your pockets with real estate lobby money.