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Officials Respond at Local Level to Heightened Threat
Aired February 07, 2003 - 14:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The White House says everybody can play a role in being vigilant against terror attacks, but the people who make their living being vigilant have a special role.
CNN's Mike Brooks now with some real-life insights on that. Why don't we first talk about the Joint Terrorism Task Force?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Right. I was a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Washington, D.C. for six years, and that plays a crucial role, as we heard from Attorney General Ashcroft and from FBI Director Mueller this morning, that the Joint Terrorism Task Forces at the field offices, and also at the U.S. Attorney's Office are going to play a key role in this.
The Joint Terrorism Task Forces, particularly the one in Washington, D.C., as an example, 22 different law enforcement agencies all -- we're talking federal, state, and local. Now, D.C., of course, is not a state, but we are -- D.C. is adjoined by Maryland and Virginia.
So you have state officers included in that also. They are the conduit. The main, key information person between the FBI and their local agencies because, again, keeping in mind that the first responders are the -- they are our first eyes and our ears of where the rubber meets the road when we are talking about counterterrorism. So, they play a key role -- extremely important role in this.
PHILLIPS: All right. So what's happening city by city right now within individual police departments?
BROOKS: It depends. If you talk about from a small city to a large city, New York City, for instance, they have been at an orange level, a high level since 9/11. D.C., the same kind of way. Los Angeles, they've also been very high.
But there are also some other -- there are also some other departments, smaller departments that may not have done as much since 9/11, but they also have to maintain their vigilance, and a lot of departments have been affected since a lot of their officers are members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine reserves, and they've been taken out of their main roles, and put in as we prepare for war with Iraq if it comes to that.
So, a lot of departments, especially small departments, are going to feel the brunt of that, and talking about a city that may have a dam or a nuclear power plant within their confines, it's going to take extra manpower, extra money to keep these secure, and are they going to have the manpower to do this?
PHILLIPS: And we have got to be vigilant, too. What do we need to be doing?
BROOKS: Absolutely. People -- whether you are at your grocery store or you are at the mall, at a sporting event. We have got the NBA all-star game here in Atlanta this weekend. Maintain your vigilance. Don't become complacent. Law enforcement is telling me that that's one of their main concerns is people becoming complacent. And when I was in law enforcement, that was also a message that we constantly put out to the public. You can't lose your vigilance. You can't become complacent. Americans traditionally six months to a year down the road, after something happens such as the World Trade Center, they start to become complacent and sit back and say it's not going to happen here. We can't think that right now. We're at a high level, and people have to act as such.
PHILLIPS: I think we all know, Mike, we can't take anything for granted. Isn't that the truth?
BROOKS: Absolutely not. Not right now, at least.
PHILLIPS: Mike Brooks, thanks so much.
BROOKS: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 7, 2003 - 14:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The White House says everybody can play a role in being vigilant against terror attacks, but the people who make their living being vigilant have a special role.
CNN's Mike Brooks now with some real-life insights on that. Why don't we first talk about the Joint Terrorism Task Force?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Right. I was a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Washington, D.C. for six years, and that plays a crucial role, as we heard from Attorney General Ashcroft and from FBI Director Mueller this morning, that the Joint Terrorism Task Forces at the field offices, and also at the U.S. Attorney's Office are going to play a key role in this.
The Joint Terrorism Task Forces, particularly the one in Washington, D.C., as an example, 22 different law enforcement agencies all -- we're talking federal, state, and local. Now, D.C., of course, is not a state, but we are -- D.C. is adjoined by Maryland and Virginia.
So you have state officers included in that also. They are the conduit. The main, key information person between the FBI and their local agencies because, again, keeping in mind that the first responders are the -- they are our first eyes and our ears of where the rubber meets the road when we are talking about counterterrorism. So, they play a key role -- extremely important role in this.
PHILLIPS: All right. So what's happening city by city right now within individual police departments?
BROOKS: It depends. If you talk about from a small city to a large city, New York City, for instance, they have been at an orange level, a high level since 9/11. D.C., the same kind of way. Los Angeles, they've also been very high.
But there are also some other -- there are also some other departments, smaller departments that may not have done as much since 9/11, but they also have to maintain their vigilance, and a lot of departments have been affected since a lot of their officers are members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine reserves, and they've been taken out of their main roles, and put in as we prepare for war with Iraq if it comes to that.
So, a lot of departments, especially small departments, are going to feel the brunt of that, and talking about a city that may have a dam or a nuclear power plant within their confines, it's going to take extra manpower, extra money to keep these secure, and are they going to have the manpower to do this?
PHILLIPS: And we have got to be vigilant, too. What do we need to be doing?
BROOKS: Absolutely. People -- whether you are at your grocery store or you are at the mall, at a sporting event. We have got the NBA all-star game here in Atlanta this weekend. Maintain your vigilance. Don't become complacent. Law enforcement is telling me that that's one of their main concerns is people becoming complacent. And when I was in law enforcement, that was also a message that we constantly put out to the public. You can't lose your vigilance. You can't become complacent. Americans traditionally six months to a year down the road, after something happens such as the World Trade Center, they start to become complacent and sit back and say it's not going to happen here. We can't think that right now. We're at a high level, and people have to act as such.
PHILLIPS: I think we all know, Mike, we can't take anything for granted. Isn't that the truth?
BROOKS: Absolutely not. Not right now, at least.
PHILLIPS: Mike Brooks, thanks so much.
BROOKS: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
