NYC Responds After Spain Bombing
March 11 -- The rush-hour bombings on commuter lines in Moscow and in Madrid are a worst-nightmare scenario for authorities in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Chicago.
In New York City today, bomb squad members rushed to Grand Central Station, Penn Station and other hub stations to remind authorities at those locations of the squad's ability to respond. Extra uniformed officers were placed on patrol, police said.
Also, the city's response level was stepped up a notch. If any suspicious packages are found in transit locations, bomb technicians will respond before it's confirmed as a specific device. Normally an Emergency Service Unit team or other specialist unit would make that determination before the bomb squad is called.
The actions came after terrorist bombs exploded along commuter trains and stations in the Spanish capital, killing around 200 people and wounding 1,200 more. On Feb. 6, a blast tore apart a train car in the Moscow metro, killing dozens. Russian officials blamed Chechen separatists for that attack.
At the New York Police Department Transit Bureau, police officials in charge of counterterrorism reviewed the measures in place — extra security cameras, track sweeps at night, random patrols by trained dogs, radiation pagers and chemical detectors — and alerted the uniformed patrol force to be "extra vigilant." The New York City subway system has 4 million riders per day.
Police officials said two Intelligence Unit detectives were being dispatched to Madrid to observe post-blast analysis and obtain firsthand forensic information on the devices used in the attacks and intelligence information on the bombers.
The NYPD and the FBI last attempted to send a team overseas immediately following the Moscow blast. However, red tape delayed the mission to the point where it would have served little purpose.
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