As the United States wages war on Iraq, there is a state of
heightened security in New York and other big cities in the
US.
Once confined to dealing with crime, the police force is
becoming more like an army. Police officers armed like
assault troops stand guard outside of prominent buildings,
police boats are combing the waterfronts and trucks are being
inspected at bridges and tunnels. On Sept. 11, the New York
Police Department had about 20 people assigned to
counterterrorism. Today, it has almost 1,000.
In the 18 months since terrorists destroyed the World Trade
Center in New York City and attacked the Pentagon in
Washington, DC, killing more than 3,000 people, significant
and lasting changes have been made in the security landscape
all over the US. More are in the works.
No one can live or work anywhere in the US without having
noticed the proliferation of armed security guards,
surveillance cameras, handbag searches, metal detectors,
electronic access cards and bomb-sniffing dogs. Where people
in America once went about their business without a thought
of any threat worse than muggers now, after the painful
attack in the US and other less spectacular but still painful
attacks around the world, there is a constant fear of another
incident that could come at any time, in any place.
In addition to the changes visible in the streets, are other
things that are hidden from most eyes. Detectives visit
chemical companies that terrorists might contact, immigration
agents demand fingerprints and credit card numbers from
foreign visitors, and hospital emergency rooms stockpile
nerve gas antidotes.
People and bags arriving at the international airports are
much more carefully screened than they were before 9/11, but
cargo arriving at the seaports is not. Power companies have
increased security around their plants. Schools in New York
City have been ordered to develop and revise emergency plans,
but many have either not done so. Jewish schools are
considered especial targets, and many have extra guards.
After the Sept. 11 attack, no area of American life was
subjected to more intense scrutiny than air travel. The
federal government, through the Transportation Security
Administration, took over airport security from private
contractors, and imposed tough rules for screening employees,
passengers and luggage. It has been expensive. The powerful
car-size X-ray machines being installed at airports to screen
baggage cost about $1 million apiece.
Before 9/11, fewer than 2 percent of checked bags in air
travel were inspected. Now, all are either X-rayed or swabbed
for explosive traces, or both. Before 9/11, there were 37
federal marshals assigned to riding airliners undercover;
now, there are thousands, according to airport officials.
However experts say that only two to three percent of the
millions of truck-size shipping containers arriving in New
York Harbor each year are inspected -- just a slight increase
in the past year.
On the other hand, incoming travelers from mostly Muslim
nations are being subjected to greater scrutiny than in the
past. Male travelers from 26 nations are now fingerprinted
and photographed upon arrival. And men from a long list of
Muslim countries who are already in the United States are
being required to register with the government, not only
supplying an address and fingerprints, but also credit card
numbers, video rental subscription numbers, family members'
addresses and even email addresses.
The US Postal Service, hit with anthrax letters, has begun to
use machines that can detect pathogens on letters and
packages and plans to have them in 282 centers nationally
within several years. The first 15 such machines are
scheduled to be in place by next month in sorting centers
across the country. Postal officials also plan for new air-
filtering systems at postal centers, as well as a new machine
at Kennedy Airport to detect radioactive materials arriving
in mail from overseas.
