“It’s pretty much business as usual with some little bit of hypersensitivity around the 10-year anniversary,” said Michael Downing, deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau.
The LAPD has conducted public outreach to religious communities and the private sector, Downing said, encouraging the public to report suspicious activity to the department through its tip lines. It is also sharing intelligence with critical infrastructure operators.
The department, like others around the country, continues to receive intelligence briefings from the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security that began after 9/11 as a way to improve information sharing. “They will continue to be ongoing,” Downing said. “That’s the way we do business now.”
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne told The Washington Post that documents found at the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed served to focus the department’s security preparations. Browne said the police department plans to have a traffic-free zone around Ground Zero where no one would be allowed without proper credentials or a police escort.
An Arlington, Va., Police Department spokeswoman also said security at events around the city would be heightened, including during a race scheduled to pass by the Pentagon.
Aviation Security
Al-Qaida continues to be interested in using planes as weapons, according to numerous media reports. An intelligence bulletin obtained by the Associated Press said al-Qaida maintained interest in flying planes into U.S. targets and recruiting Westerners as pilots. U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matthew Chandler characterized the bulletin as a routine reminder issued to the department’s partners.
However, security is being beefed up at some airports. At least two Wisconsin airports are increasing security ahead of the 9/11 anniversary following the small planes advisory. But Jim Olson, director of operations at Central Wisconsin Airport, told the Wausau Daily Herald that he did not expect the security measures to delay travelers.
“As with any other significant day or peak travel period, passengers may notice an increased security presence at airports and mass transit systems,” said TSA spokesman Greg Soule in an e-mailed statement. “We ask that passengers be partners in security and report suspicious behavior.”
Shifting Threats
While homeland security officials are still watching al-Qaida and other international threats closely, many have said that during the last 10 years the shift has evolved to threats from lone wolfs and home grown terrorists.
Rick Nelson, director of the CSIS homeland security and counterterrorism program and senior fellow of the international security program, made this clear in an interview with Emergency Management earlier this year: “I always ask people, ‘What was the last terror attack in the United States using an aircraft?’ People say 9/11. No, it wasn’t; it was Joseph Stack in Austin taking his [plane], crashing into the IRS building and killing people. We don’t know what the next face of terrorism is.”
However, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, speaking during a tour of the World Trade Center site on Sept. 6, said groups affiliated with al-Qaida outside of Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially in Yemen, still pose a threat and the potential for a 9/11-style attack is still very real.
As Americans mark the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks this weekend, the coordinated efforts that have been made to make the U.S. safer will continue.
