NYPD Is Prepared For War With ISIS
By Tyler Durden
Following the terrorist attack on Istanbul's airport last week, a pro-ISIS Twitter account was used to make threats against airports such as Heathrow, JFK, and Las Angeles International over the Fourth of July weekend.
As the LA Times reports, as of Thursday the FBI nationally said the bureau knew of no known specific or credible threat to the US during the Fourth of July weekend, however SITE Intelligence Group identified and publicized the threat on Friday.
Pro-IS Twitter Account Warns of Attacks in Heathrow, LAX, and JFK Airports on July 4 Weekend https://t.co/nResxCNiwL
— SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) July 1, 2016
With that said, the New York Police Department has been working around the clock to get ahead of any potential attackers, looking far beyond the city limits to do so. “I think that it's inevitable that there'll be another attack in this country. We are well-prepared to respond to that.” said Chief James Waters, the head of NYPD's Counterterrorism Bureau.
As ABC News reports, about 525 specially trained officers rotate shifts so that at any given time, 24/7, some 100 of the officers are ready to roll out with high-powered weapons, radiation detectors and bomb-sniffing Labrador Retrievers that can detect the chemicals known to be used by ISIS for its suicide explosives. The operation is run from a command center in an undisclosed location in lower Manhattan, where the feeds from more than 9,000 surveillance cameras, from the Brooklyn Bridge to Times Square to inside the city's subways are piped in and displayed.
Aside from the specifically New York City, the NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau is looking for global trends to be concerned with as well.
“We look at the global threat environment. What's happening in the world? Are there any new trends that we need to be concerned with? Any new tactics that terrorist groups may be using that have any implication for us here in New York City?” said Meghann Teubner, Director of Counterterrorism Intelligence Analysis in the NYPD's Counterterrorism Bureau.
The security operation has been referred to as a “ring of steel,” an expansion of the concept first used in London. “It's our way of protecting New York” Waters said, adding “It gives us an optic into what goes in New York City on any given day, and it tells us an awful lot with 9,000 cameras and the license plate readers. It gives us a sense to keep our finger on the pulse of what's happening here in the city“
Though officials have said there is no specific threat to New York or any American city over the holiday weekend, Waters thinks New York is a prime target.
The NYPD has studied the recent major terrorist attacks in order to better prepare – “We are constantly looking at tactics, techniques and procedures that are used at those events and how we can better prepare ourselves here in New York City” Captain Gene McCarthy said.
Should someone slip through the cracks and attempt an attack, the NYPD's “last line of defense” …read more
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