A new breed of ‘NYPD Blue’

Nasser regularly patrols streets in Islamic neighborhoods like Bay Ridge, which a lot of cops call “Beirut” because of its large Arab population. He is the face of the NYPD in a lot of those communities, visiting shops, talking to people, praying at storefront mosques, often in uniform.

“For the last four and a half years, I’ve been assigned to community affairs as the liaison for the Arab and Muslim community,” says Nasser. “And what that basically entails is that I’m almost a bridge between the police department and the community. The goal of community affairs is to work between the police and the community."

“If you’re working with the community, you’ve got more eyes that can help you, telling you who’s committed this crime, who’s committed that crime. I think the same philosophy goes for counter-terrorism.”

“We talk to a lot of people ... a lot of people,” adds Cohen with a smile.

Cooperation with other target cities
There’s another aspect to the department’s internationalization — the 10 overseas posts the NYPD has set up worldwide in places like London, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Mumbai and Madrid, all of which have had their own attacks.

Each time one of those cities experiences or thwarts an attack, the police detective assigned sends the information to New York for analysis as to how terrorists could take advantage of the same vulnerabilities that might be found in New York. Occasionally, the city will do a more detailed look, based on what they are seeing and hearing over the long term in terrorist trends. 

“In Madrid, we had people giving us real-time info that enables them to beef up security,” says Duval, who like all the cops know that attacks by al-Qaida are often multiple and near-simultaneous. An attack on the train station in Madrid could mean one is planned elsewhere, like New York.

'Blunt force'
Not everything the department does is subtle, either. Blunt force has its place, say the officials.

Every day, the department runs what it calls “surges.” Three times a day, it sends out dozens of marked police cars, sirens sounding, lights flashing. About 150 cops per surge gather, then fan out to places like the subway, descending on the platforms en masse. It is not, as many New Yorkers think, random. It is, say officials, based on the latest intelligence, a tip picked up from the counter-terrorism hotline, a report from an overseas bureau, intelligence from the CIA, routed through Homeland Security.

There are no guarantees, of course, but nothing is inevitable, either, says Kelly. Thinking an attack is bound to happen leads to shoulder-shrugging or, worse, letting your guard down.

“I think we will probably have attempts. I don't think it’s inevitable in this city,” he says. “I would never accept the notion of inevitability because we are doing so much to prevent it, but it is certainly possible.”

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