Perry says border work not done as conference opens

By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau

Article Launched: 12/04/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

SAN ANTONIO -- The Texas-Mexico border is safer now but work to secure the area is far from over, Gov. Rick Perry said Monday.

"We have shown that you can slow the bad guys down to a halt," Perry said on the first day of a five-day Texas Homeland Security Conference attended by about 3,000 law enforcement officers and emergency responders from across Texas.

State border security efforts will be among the topics discussed during the conference, both how those operations have worked in the past and how they will change in the future.

"It's about getting better," said Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw.

Since 2005, Perry has spent at least $20 million in federal grants and state dollars on border security efforts. Much of that money went to sheriffs on the border.