Calls NYPD Anti-Terror Force Vital to City

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang EXPANDING THE NYPD'S BORDERS: It has often been said that New York City Mayors have foreign policies of their own for political reasons, but Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly told the Council on Foreign Relations that he has looked abroad because stationing cops overseas is the best way to obtain information swiftly that could help prevent terrorist attacks here.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly April 22 told the Council on Foreign Relations that the NYPD's increasingly international focus is the only way to protect New York, "the world's most enduring terrorist target."

Mr. Kelly, who holds daily counterterrorism briefings often based on information from police officers stationed around the globe, said the NYPD is the first and only municipal police department to have an international focus.

'A Council With Guns'

"You might say that the NYPD aspires to become a Council on Foreign Relations with guns," he quipped.

He added that this international focus of the department, which has officers stationed from Madrid to Tel Aviv, has helped foil terrorist plots like one that targeted the Herald Square subway stop. "From our standpoint we see no reason to let our guard down," Mr. Kelly said.

The Police Commissioner said the department continues to evolve. The latest concern is what he called "the third tier," homegrown terrorism, which is perpetrated by individuals already living in the country. "Ideally we want to stop any threat in its earliest phases," he said.

The NYPD has set up a radiological ring around the city to prevent a dirty bomb from entering its limits. It also makes unannounced sweeps of iconic structures in the city that might be threatened by attack.

Mr. Kelly transformed the department to add an international focus when he began his second tour as Commissioner a few months after 9/11 by bringing in outsiders to beef up intelligence-gathering. Asked if it created friction among the ranks of the uniformed officers, Mr. Kelly scoffed: "It really created very few internal problems. The Police Department is hierarchical. Though, there may have been some grumbling."

Says Feds Accept NYPD's Role

As the NYPD has spread its wings to observe matters outside its jurisdiction, skeptics have wondered if that would upset relations with Federal law-enforcement. Mr. Kelly said this was not the case anymore. "Overt resistance from the Federal side of the house has quieted down," he said.

Mr. Kelly noted that his efforts have already paid dividends for the department in preventing terrorism.

He cited the presence in Madrid as an example. The NYPD had officers on the scene of the 2004 Madrid train bombings almost immediately afterward. Those officers immediately provided information to the department to help prevent such attacks here. If it had not had officers on the scene, he said, it would have been 18 months before the department got that information, which is how long it took for a Federal report on the terrorist attack in that Spanish city to be published.

"We want to get any bit of information that is going to help protect the city and we want to get it right away," he told the audience.

Secured Backups for ESU

Mr. Kelly said the NYPD also learned the city could be vulnerable from multiple small terrorist attacks like the ones in Mumbai last year. Mr. Kelly noted that it was revealed that the Emergency Services Unit might be spread too thin by such attacks, which led to the training of other officers to fill their roles in the event of a catastrophe.

"If we had a larger event, there was concern that we might not have enough trained people," he said.

In response to questions from CFR members, the Police Commissioner said he supported President Obama's position on torture. "I don't think we should engage in torture," Mr. Kelly said. "It may provide some short-term gain, but I think in the big picture it is not helpful and I just don't think it is the way we should be doing business." Extreme circumstances, he said, should be left to the discretion of the President.

The Police Commissioner explained the NYPD was effective because it used human beings to gather information. It works especially well because the department now has officers from more than 50 different countries. "This gives us a tremendous advantage," he said. "The Federal Government doesn't have that. We are blessed with the diversity of this city and this department. It is our strength."