By Dari Kotzker
NJ Today
It’s a typical day at New Jersey train stations, but tomorrow, on the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, what can travelers expect?
“We have an array of things that we utilize that people will see and some that people won’t see,” said NJ Transit Police Chief Christopher Trucillo.
At the airports, a Transportation Security Administration spokesperson said it will look like business as usual. But the anniversary of any terrorist attack intensifies TSA’s vigilance. In Trenton, they’ve ramped up security measures at the Regional Operations Intelligence Center, also known as the ROIC, according to its commanding officer, but it will be more behind the scenes.
“What they won’t see and what will be happening is fusion centers similar to this one will be conducting analysis and trying to identify any potential threats. And of course the anniversary of Sept. 11 does have some concern for the nation and for the state of New Jersey,” said Major Christian Schultz, commanding officer for the New Jersey State Police Regional Operations Intelligence Center.
Moreover, specific events — like the recent crisis in Syria –- can re-focus law enforcement priorities.
“Yes, we do look at what goes on overseas very closely here at home,” Trucillo said.
Today, on the terrorism alert scale, New Jersey’s at Level One. That means normal operations, and that’s expected to continue tomorrow.
But if a threat develops, state officials say we are more prepared to handle it than we were 12 years ago.
“We have better equipment, we have new and better technology. But I think really the crux of if is in our ability to share information. The communication between all levels of government is better than it has ever been since post 9/11,” Schultz said.
And the public agrees.
“I feel as safe as I always did. I think we live in a pretty safe place. There’s always crazy people everywhere in the world and there’s much worse things happening in other countries,” said Jaideep Bajaj of Princeton.
The New Jersey terrorist tip line receives approximately 1,200 calls a year. State police officers say the public are what they call force multipliers because they help to enhance the safety and security of their communities.
“We ask the public for behavior that’s out of the norm, so the typical request would be somebody taking photographs of a bridge or some piece of critical infrastructure, some other behavior that might not seem normal. Somebody who leaves a bag at a train station and walks away from it,” Schultz said.
“I think 12 years out from 9/11, I think we’re doing things differently to make our nation safer, but I think we live in a dangerous world and we live in a world where we always have to be cautious and we always have to be mindful of our safety and security,” said Trucillo.
The state police say they are continuing to develop new technology to look at social media and increase information sharing to help ensure the public’s safety.