Protecting ManhattanPlanned security network for Lower Manhattan would not have identified bomber
New York City plans to install a protection system in Lower Manhattan which will consist of surveillance cameras, license plate readers, and chemical sensors; the system will be able to record and track every vehicle moving between 34th and 59th Streets, river to river; because neither the S.U.V. used in the attempt last Saturday nor the license plate on it had been reported stolen, it would not have raised any immediate red flags
The New York Police Department has been planning a high-tech security network for Midtown Manhattan involving surveillance cameras, license plate readers, and chemical sensors, although it was not clear whether it could have prevented the attempted car bombing in Times Square on Saturday night (see “NYPD considers jamming cell phones during terror attack,” 8 January 2009 HSNW; and “NYPD keeps CCTVs, but cut officers, in Lower Manhattan protection scheme,” 13 February 2009 HSNW).
The network, patterned after one under development in Lower Manhattan, would eventually use public and private security cameras and license plate readers and would be able to record and track every vehicle moving between 34th and 59th Streets, river to river. Because neither the S.U.V. used in the attempt nor the license plate on it had been reported stolen, it would not have raised any immediate red flags.
The New York Times’s Michael S. Schmidt writes that police officer say that eventually, the networks would be able to notice whether a car was circling any area suspiciously. Because the security network is not yet in place in Midtown, it was not known whether the S.U.V. was driven directly to its target on Saturday night.
The network could have been triggered via its chemical, biological, and radiological sensors, presuming that the material in the vehicle, which is not yet fully analyzed, was detectable.
The department secured a $24 million DHS grant last fall to begin building the network. Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said he was seeking more federal money to complete it. Paul J. Browne, a spokesman for the department, said that license plate readers are already being used.
“There really isn’t a downside to it,” said Louis Anemone, a former official for the New York Police Department and former head of security for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “Next time it may not get this far because of the technology.”
Schmidt quotes Anemone to say that even if it could not help prevent an attack, he said, “it helps to clearly identify the people involved and get good photos so officers can follow up.”
Kelly, calling the network “a whole new area for us,” said Sunday, “It has a lot of promise; in that regard we are very enthusiastic about it.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union has raised privacy concerns about the networks, and has sued the Police Department and Department of Homeland Security for information about the networks and how long the surveillance images and data would be retained in their databases.
