On O'ahu, the money has been used to buy protective suits for police, firefighters and other emergency workers in the event of a chemical or biological attack. Other purchases include detection equipment, decontamination tents, a portable weather station and a hazardous materials vehicle.

Officials also are making a major upgrade to a radio system so police, firefighters and emergency medical services can communicate better in the field.

"The emphasis has been on interoperability among our first responders and providing them with the equipment they need," said Ben Dimond, homeland security grants coordinator for the O'ahu Civil Defense Agency.

Some of the remaining federal money has gone for items such as a new radiation detector for foreign cargo expected at Honolulu Harbor this spring.

Hawai'i, an international tourist destination and home of the military's Pacific Command, has potential targets for terrorists but is not considered a high-risk state.

Like many places across the country where the chances for an attack are lower, Hawai'i has used homeland security money to help police and fire departments perform day-to-day activities or respond to unexpected emergencies, from the Pro Bowl to the Manoa flood.

"It makes no sense to buy a system and then put it in the closet until there is terrorism," said Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee of the state Department of Defense. "Our instructions were to buy the stuff that will be useful to you all the time."

Gov. Linda Lingle and Lee are hosting the second annual Asia-Pacific Homeland Security Summit & Exposition this week at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where leaders from 40 nations are expected to discuss security. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is scheduled to give the keynote address today.

"I think it's a very strong statement about the caliber of the work that's gone on," Lingle said of Ridge's appearance. Ridge also spoke at last year's inaugural summit.

While Lee believes that Hawai'i is safer than it was before Sept. 11, and the Islands are heavily protected by the military, he said that many of the recent terrorist attacks in the Pacific have been on the kind of "soft targets" that are prevalent in Hawai'i. Terrorists bombed Bali nightclubs in 2002, a J.W. Marriott in Jakarta in 2003, a Manila ferry in the Philippines in February and the Australian embassy in Jakarta in September.

Honolulu was among the urban areas to receive extra federal money for security in 2003, but it dropped off the list this year after federal officials determined it was at lower risk.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is still evaluating which urban areas will get the extra money next year and will base its decisions on population density, critical infrastructure and risk for terrorism.

"We asked them not to leave us out," Lee said. "We hope to get something."

More than half of the federal security money for Hawai'i has gone to counties as grants, with the most — $24 million — to O'ahu, the state's financial and population center. The Big Island has received $6 million; Maui has been sent $5.9 million; and Kaua'i $5.8 million.

Nationally, some lawmakers and policy analysts have been critical of homeland security spending in states at low risk for an attack, contending that most of the money should be concentrated on cities like New York and Washington, D.C., that are prime targets.

Big cities at the most risk do get more federal security money, but the Homeland Security Department also awards grant money to states based on a formula that guarantees that all states receive a minimum amount.

A report by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a Washington, D.C., think tank, found that large states like New York or California receive much less per capita in homeland security grants than states like Wyoming or Vermont or areas like Washington, D.C.

Hawai'i, for example, received about $16.70 per capita in grants in 2003, while California received $4.69 per capita.

Veronique de Rugy, who wrote the report, argues that grant money should be based solely on risk and security needs.

De Rugy concluded that "because most of the money is allocated on a political basis rather than a sound cost-benefit analysis, much of the new spending will not result in sound security."

State lawmakers have asked the federal government for much more than the state has received for homeland security — U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, initially put the need at more than $190 million — and Lee said any additional money would help the state meet its security goals sooner.

Lee said the first wave of money went to the police and firefighters because they would be on the front lines after an attack.

"The nature of the terror game now is that we have to ensure the survivability of the first-responders," he said.