Improved Training and Communication Better Prepare Massachusetts for Terrorist Attack
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14–Since Sept. 11, Massachusetts state and local officials have worked overtime to improve security, training and communication through various state and municipal agencies to prevent a future attack. Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson and Richard Swensen, director of the Office of Commonwealth Security, agree that improvement is evident, yet Hodgson worries that political battles could still get in the way.
At the close of an hour-long workshop Wednesday on police operations and terrorism at the inaugural Global Conference on Bio/Chem Terrorism, Hodgson warned attendees to “rip down old parochial boundaries” and to stray from political wrangling.
“In order for this to be effective in our ability to deal with homeland security, it’s about breaking down political barriers and egos,” he said. “It’s about having someone who can facilitate within your region, who isn’t interested in getting all the credit or being the most important.”
Swenson said in an interview Thursday that it was unlikely that such poor communication between various response agencies would exist in the event of a terrorist attack in Massachusetts. “The level of preparation on the part of Massachusetts is way, way, way ahead of what it was Sept. 11,” he said. “And before Sept. 11, we were ahead of the curve of most states. In terms of communications, things are much more [seamless] since Sept. 11.”
Citing a need for improved training and education, Hodgson said poor communication and little knowledge of available resources were serious problems for response teams Sept. 11. “The National Guard has· tremendous resources, but [the first responders at Ground Zero] had no idea they had T1 lines available at the armories,” he said. “Those would have been very critical at the time that they were needed, but nobody knew about them. They had [responders] coming in from Hoboken to respond as soon as the incident happened at the World Trade Center, and they couldn’t get in to Ground Zero; they couldn’t come close to the door because the roads were all jammed. There was a mass exodus to get out [of Manhattan].”
Is Massachusetts prepared for a terrorist attack? “If it’s an atomic bomb, probably no,” said Swensen, whose role on the state level is analogous to that of Tom Ridge, the director of the Office of Homeland Security, on the national level. Great improvement has been made since Sept. 11 in terms of communication and training, he said, but “no matter what anyone has done, you can probably do more.”
Col. David W. Gavigan, commander of special operations for the Bristol County Sheriff’s office, said at the conference that the New Bedford federal building and the Tweeter Center were possible targets in Southeast Massachusetts.
In a terrorist attack in Massachusetts, the first responders are almost always local fire, police and emergency medical units, Swensen said. Secondary responders include Massachusetts State Police and the FBI. The federal government and the state Office of Commonwealth Security would then set up command posts. Improved training, Swensen said, guarantees better communication in the event of an attack. An improved state apparatus, the Saturn Program, is likely to be implemented in mid-March. In this system, town political leaders coordinating efforts of fire, EMS and police teams, will work in conjunction with leaders on the state level to improve communication.
Gavigan said most municipal and county systems are currently overwhelmed and thus unprepared for an attack. Bristol County recently set up five detection teams near area malls. Additionally, biological and chemical detection teams have been implemented. Gavigan credited Hodgson with foresight in ordering an incident command center, an all-weather, self-confined vehicle, six months before Sept. 11. The vehicle has several technological innovations necessary in a terrorist attack, including protective suits, radios, cell phones (including a satellite phone), computers, a fax machine and a 42-foot telescoping camera with a visibility of five miles.
He added that despite training and improved communication, combating terrorism is complex because terrorists can strike simultaneously on many fronts. “This is the way terrorism works,” he said. “Watch my hand here, while I hit you here,” he said, motioning to another point in the room.
Terrorists, Gavigan said, have evolved their philosophy from targeting buildings and structures to targeting people; he described them as “ruthless” in their willingness to sacrifice their own lives to accomplish their goal. “These people are not stupid,” he said. “They [assimilate] into this country. Their kids are playing soccer with [our] kids.”
Terrorists posing the largest threat to the United States often live here for months or years before to a planned attack. Gavigan described them as fundamentalists with average or above average IQ’s, possessing several aliases. The terrorists are holy warriors, believing the world is separated by good and evil. Many perform pedestrian roles in society, including working as cab drivers, to gather intelligence from citizens and observe tendencies at the planned site of an attack. “These people are not stupid,” he said.
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
