NEW YORK—The shockwaves of the terrorist attacks in Paris last week have pushed New York City’s police force into high gear. In a series of statements and interviews after the attacks, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton spelled out some of the most critical issues the department is now facing.
According to Bratton, among the most difficult and troubling challenges for the city’s police are the use of suicide vests, the adoption of encryption techniques in communication by those planning potential attacks, and the increasingly frequent number of plots that they’ve encountered since 9/11.
Despite that, they are moving at full steam to stem any potential attack in New York City.
“We have poured enormous resources into this effort,” said Bratton in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Nov. 16, one of many he’s done in recent days. “It’s something that going back to the events of 9/11 that the police department and the city have constantly been preparing for and trying to protect against.”
The NYPD’s current response ability includes almost 500 officers in the newly formed counterterrorism command, an 800-strong officer strategic response group, and a 700-member Emergency Response Unit. That’s in addition to 2,000 beat officers—400 of whom are on duty at any given time—who are trained and capable of dealing with events like what happened in Paris.
Another 500 personnel are being added to the direct counterterrorism effort, which New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has consistently backed with city funds.
It’s getting harder, though. Bratton noted that the Paris attacks had “a lot of new elements” to them, including that the attackers wore suicide vests. That’s a particularly grave concern for American police officers, who employ the tactic of physically rushing a suspect in an active shooter scenario.
The NYPD has begun studying the ballistic capability of the vests and how far the projectiles spew out. They are also looking closely at what types of communications, phones, and apps were used in Paris. A team from the NYPD will go to Paris later this week to see what else can be learned.
Of great concern for law enforcement in New York City, which has been remarkably successful in keeping terrorists at bay (Bratton said since 9/11, there have been 20 planned attacks thwarted), is the ability of those plotting attacks like Paris to “go dark” with encryption.
