U.S. Reacts to London Bombs

June 29, 2007 — -- New York City appeared to lead the national response to the London bombs, increasing security measures soon after the news broke Friday morning about the thwarted plot.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were quick to speak publicly on the city's reaction.

"We'll take a little extra precautions, although we have a lot of police officers on the road anyway," Bloomberg said. "So we're going to ramp up a little bit, nothing dramatic."

In the aftermath of the discovery of the undetonated London bomb, the New York Police Department set up random vehicle checkpoints and increased patrols inside subways and tourist attractions such as Times Square and the theater district.

Kelly was careful to say that these activities were just a precaution.

"I want to stress the fact that there is no specific threat against New York City," he said. "We're going to continue to monitor over the weekend, we will have additional resources in place until we have a better understanding of what is transpiring."

The heightened security was visible to New York City residents.

"I love it, because it's security for me," said Austin Shaw, a truck driver who was pulled over by the NYPD Motor Carrier Safety Unit. "I don't want to drive behind a guy that has a truck full of something that could kill me also."

Outside of New York, other U.S. cities remained vigilant, but did not report a change to security measures. Citing what Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said was a lack of a credible domestic threat, police departments from Miami to Portland said they would not take specific actions at this time.

"I remain in communication with federal authorities regarding national security measures which impact our city," said Washington, D.C., Police Chief Cathy Lanier, "and my department continues to conduct daily inspections of locations throughout the district to guard against terrorist attacks."

By not changing their approaches in light of the London plot, police departments around the country may have revealed that their heightened sensitivity to threats has become part of their everyday operations since the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Even the timing of the attempted attack just before next week's Fourth of July holiday was not cause for change in U.S. cities.