HOW SECURE ARE WE?
Are we safe? That question is very relative and depends on many factors. Recently the FBI uncovered a plot that involved explosives, martyrdom and suicide bombers wishing to strike a blow at America's economic heart; Wall Street. The suspects felt that bombing the PATH Tunnels under the Hudson River would flood downtown Manhattan.
Since 9/11 Americans have been focused on security like never before. However, what is really being done? The terrorists on 9/11 targeted office workers, and office buildings can be very inviting targets. The attitude at office buildings has changed dramatically. Even before 9/11 the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center woke many people up to our vulnerabilities, and the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City more than drove the point home. Today, getting into an office building can be tougher than boarding an airplane.
For now let us focus on The Gateway Center, an office complex in the downtown area of Newark It is New Jersey's largest city. The complex is connected physically to Newark Penn Station, a transportation hub of major importance to the area. This complex is representative of many of today's office complexes, there are office spaces, but they are mixed with stores in a mall like setting and there are pedestrian walkways and mass transit connections, much like the World Trade Center was. While primarily police of both New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority patrols the rail and bus station, the complex itself has its own security. Gateway Security hired by Prudential provides this service. Some of the personnel are unarmed security people, but off duty police officers are also hired and they are armed. They also bring years of experience to the job. According to unnamed sources, extensive background checks are done on all potential security employees. To actually enter office space within the complex, all workers must possess a company I.D. card and scan it before entering a turnstile. Visitors must be cleared by an actual employee of a tenant of the building, who then must personally come and sign the visitor in and escort the visitor to his or her specific destination. The visitor's baggage is screened via X-ray, and the person must walk through a detection device similar to those at most courthouses. If they set off an alarm, a "wand check" is done, ensuring no weapons are brought in. Truck deliveries must be cleared at a checkpoint and verified by the tenant. Trucks are inspected inside and out and a mirror is used to search the undercarriage of the vehicle. Physical barriers are also in place that would discourage the parking of a vehicle outside the buildings at sensitive areas. It appears that security at this complex has been greatly enhanced.
Apart from feeling safe at work, there is the matter of getting to work. Many of us have seen the footage coming out of Israel and now Europe of buses and trains being mangled by suicide bombers. The once tranquil ride to work on the bus or train can be a stressful experience. Two of the major agencies involved in this business have been quite forthcoming in providing information on upgrades that have been made to keep us all a bit safer on that ride.
Dan Stessel, a Public Affairs Officer and security expert at New Jersey Transit was very willing to talk about the upgrades made since 9/11. In addition to hiring more officers and tripling K-9 units, Mr. Stessel stressed "the entire mission of our force has changed. Whereas before we were concerned with asset protection, we are now focused on anti-terrorism and commuter safety". Mr. Stessel explained that security is now "layered", relying on police, technology, employees and the commuters themselves. Their budget has gone from 13 million dollars to 30 million dollars per year and federal grants have been received to enhance technological advancements. Mr. Stessel stressed, "not only do our police officers receive security training, but that it extends to all our employees". Some of the grant money for technological advances have been used to install surveillance cameras on train platforms, but when pressed on whether the buses might present a weak link and easy target for terrorists, Mr. Stessel stated that "our buses are routinely patrolled by undercover and uniformed officers, our drivers are trained to spot suspicious activity and a customer based alert system has been attempted to be implemented, whereby commuters can work together with our employees and we have also initiated a toll free number for people to call to report any activity that may seem out of the ordinary".
Tony Ciavolella of Port Authority's PATH system said "2.3 billion dollars have been spent system wide since 9/11". He also stated "over 300 new officers have been added to our police force, and they all receive specialized training in anti-terrorism and commuter safety". Mr. Ciavolella also pointed out "the K-9 unit has been increased as have patrols on the PATH system". PATH stations are also monitored by closed circuit television, and all have phones that allow commuters to call PATH employees on duty.
The Department of Homeland Security is also testing new explosive detection technology at PATH's Exchange Place terminal. The program will screen commuters without each person having to pass through a detection device. If successful, the system could be installed system wide. The Port Authority's PATH transit service carries over 67 million people per year. That's 215,000 passengers each weekday. Seventy percent of all rail passengers entering Manhattan during rush hour from New Jersey are PATH passengers. Over 1,000 trains per day travel PATH's 43.1 miles of track.
It appears the agencies entrusted with our safety take their jobs very seriously, but how do the people think they are doing their jobs. To get a feel for that we need to talk to the men and women who commute on a daily basis. Ms. Claudia McPherson of Belleville who travels to Manhattan by New Jersey Transit bus every workday said "while I know improvements have been made, I just don't see it, and it makes me a little wary". Juan Munoz, of Kearny, rides New Jersey Transit regularly and said, "I feel that they do as good a job as is possible under the circumstances".
The agencies entrusted with our safety certainly take their task seriously, and are implementing changes and spending the money to make us as safe as they can, but the public does not seem to see this, and therefore are not comforted by these changes. To answer the question of are we safe, it seems impossible to ever be 100 percent secure against a determined foe willing to die to achieve his objective. However, there are many people hard at work behind the scenes attempting to make that objective much harder to achieve.
By James J. Calautti
Since 9/11 Americans have been focused on security like never before. However, what is really being done? The terrorists on 9/11 targeted office workers, and office buildings can be very inviting targets. The attitude at office buildings has changed dramatically. Even before 9/11 the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center woke many people up to our vulnerabilities, and the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City more than drove the point home. Today, getting into an office building can be tougher than boarding an airplane.
For now let us focus on The Gateway Center, an office complex in the downtown area of Newark It is New Jersey's largest city. The complex is connected physically to Newark Penn Station, a transportation hub of major importance to the area. This complex is representative of many of today's office complexes, there are office spaces, but they are mixed with stores in a mall like setting and there are pedestrian walkways and mass transit connections, much like the World Trade Center was. While primarily police of both New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority patrols the rail and bus station, the complex itself has its own security. Gateway Security hired by Prudential provides this service. Some of the personnel are unarmed security people, but off duty police officers are also hired and they are armed. They also bring years of experience to the job. According to unnamed sources, extensive background checks are done on all potential security employees. To actually enter office space within the complex, all workers must possess a company I.D. card and scan it before entering a turnstile. Visitors must be cleared by an actual employee of a tenant of the building, who then must personally come and sign the visitor in and escort the visitor to his or her specific destination. The visitor's baggage is screened via X-ray, and the person must walk through a detection device similar to those at most courthouses. If they set off an alarm, a "wand check" is done, ensuring no weapons are brought in. Truck deliveries must be cleared at a checkpoint and verified by the tenant. Trucks are inspected inside and out and a mirror is used to search the undercarriage of the vehicle. Physical barriers are also in place that would discourage the parking of a vehicle outside the buildings at sensitive areas. It appears that security at this complex has been greatly enhanced.
Apart from feeling safe at work, there is the matter of getting to work. Many of us have seen the footage coming out of Israel and now Europe of buses and trains being mangled by suicide bombers. The once tranquil ride to work on the bus or train can be a stressful experience. Two of the major agencies involved in this business have been quite forthcoming in providing information on upgrades that have been made to keep us all a bit safer on that ride.
Dan Stessel, a Public Affairs Officer and security expert at New Jersey Transit was very willing to talk about the upgrades made since 9/11. In addition to hiring more officers and tripling K-9 units, Mr. Stessel stressed "the entire mission of our force has changed. Whereas before we were concerned with asset protection, we are now focused on anti-terrorism and commuter safety". Mr. Stessel explained that security is now "layered", relying on police, technology, employees and the commuters themselves. Their budget has gone from 13 million dollars to 30 million dollars per year and federal grants have been received to enhance technological advancements. Mr. Stessel stressed, "not only do our police officers receive security training, but that it extends to all our employees". Some of the grant money for technological advances have been used to install surveillance cameras on train platforms, but when pressed on whether the buses might present a weak link and easy target for terrorists, Mr. Stessel stated that "our buses are routinely patrolled by undercover and uniformed officers, our drivers are trained to spot suspicious activity and a customer based alert system has been attempted to be implemented, whereby commuters can work together with our employees and we have also initiated a toll free number for people to call to report any activity that may seem out of the ordinary".
Tony Ciavolella of Port Authority's PATH system said "2.3 billion dollars have been spent system wide since 9/11". He also stated "over 300 new officers have been added to our police force, and they all receive specialized training in anti-terrorism and commuter safety". Mr. Ciavolella also pointed out "the K-9 unit has been increased as have patrols on the PATH system". PATH stations are also monitored by closed circuit television, and all have phones that allow commuters to call PATH employees on duty.
The Department of Homeland Security is also testing new explosive detection technology at PATH's Exchange Place terminal. The program will screen commuters without each person having to pass through a detection device. If successful, the system could be installed system wide. The Port Authority's PATH transit service carries over 67 million people per year. That's 215,000 passengers each weekday. Seventy percent of all rail passengers entering Manhattan during rush hour from New Jersey are PATH passengers. Over 1,000 trains per day travel PATH's 43.1 miles of track.
It appears the agencies entrusted with our safety take their jobs very seriously, but how do the people think they are doing their jobs. To get a feel for that we need to talk to the men and women who commute on a daily basis. Ms. Claudia McPherson of Belleville who travels to Manhattan by New Jersey Transit bus every workday said "while I know improvements have been made, I just don't see it, and it makes me a little wary". Juan Munoz, of Kearny, rides New Jersey Transit regularly and said, "I feel that they do as good a job as is possible under the circumstances".
The agencies entrusted with our safety certainly take their task seriously, and are implementing changes and spending the money to make us as safe as they can, but the public does not seem to see this, and therefore are not comforted by these changes. To answer the question of are we safe, it seems impossible to ever be 100 percent secure against a determined foe willing to die to achieve his objective. However, there are many people hard at work behind the scenes attempting to make that objective much harder to achieve.
By James J. Calautti
posted by James at 7:10 AM
1 Comments:
While not your point, what you point out is exactly how useless and helpless Homeland Security is, in the manner it is currently executed.
Do you think that a bomber with a truckload of explosives is going to stop at a "checkpoint" if he plans on detonating at the dock? No, he is going to drive through (and over) the security people and detonate as quickly as possible.
Lots of great "ideas" for "Stations" such as Port Authority and/or other stations, however, somebody who gets on a NYC bus with a suitcase sized dirty bomb will sill be undetected until he detonates, theoretically in the middle of the Lincoln or Holland Tunnels (for example).
While the media has hyped the two recent, "terror captures", neither of which were actually anything near operational or an actual threat. They had no weaponry or even sources and spoke over unprotected and easily access areas (such as public forums on the Internet). Where they radical? Yes? Could they have proved dangerous in the future? Possibly. But their captures were more thanks to their ineptness than so-called Security.
We are only fortunate in that al-qaeda seems bent on only making "big splash" attacks. If they chose to battle in the streets the way they apparently do in Iraq and in other parts of the world, we would unfortunately find that all the Billions spent in "Homeland Security" had secured exactly squat.
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