Evolving Threats: Security and Safety in a Post-9/11 World - Homeland Security Committee Events

Emergency Management and Technology Subcommittee Field Hearing: Evolving Threats: Security and Safety in a Post-9/11 World | EVENT ID: 116328

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfYUgRjdZhw

Goldman: Deputy Commissioner Weiner, you, I appreciate your comments about the international terrorist threats, but you also mentioned in your opening statement, domestic terrorism, which has grown pretty significantly in recent years. Can you talk about how that threat has evolved over the past several years?

Weiner: Absolutely.Thank you for the for the question. So this certainly has been an area of growth across the country and including in New York City. You can look at an event that tragically took place very recently in Jacksonville, Florida or I mentioned earlier, the Buffalo attack for important reminders of how that threat can manifest individuals who are often radicalized in a different way than we see among those who are inspired by Al Qaeda or Isis spending a lot of time in the digital sphere.

The online environment and technology has been studied very intensively, has played a role in radicalizing and mobilizing individuals to violence across the ideological spectrum. But very much to include domestic violent extremism. It's a label that includes a broad category of people who are motivated by different grievances, but uniting them all is hatred, hatred against particular ethnic groups, particular races, anti government extremism and very important as we think about the sacrifice that so many of our colleagues have made on 9 11 in years subsequent about the role of law enforcement officers as targets for domestic violent extremists. And this is, this has been true in recent years in a number of different examples.

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DeEsposito: Can you give us a sense of the threat that foreign terrorist groups pose today and how it has changed over the past 20 years?

Weiner: Absolutely. Thank you for the question. This is an enduring threat. It's a persistent threat.And as I mentioned, though, it manifests differently today than it did on September 12, 2001, it's a threat that we have arrayed tremendous resources and need to continue to array tremendous resources to combat Al Qaeda. And Isis continue to inspire homegrown violent extremists across the country and here in our area of responsibility in New York every day, this continues through propaganda. This continues through plotting, this continues through the investigations that we collectively with our federal state and local counterparts across the country carry out to make sure that it doesn't manifest in violence on our streets.

This is in addition to threats posed by nation states, I mentioned Iran briefly earlier but the emboldened Iran and activities targeting dissidents here in our city, targeting former us officials in threat streams are of great concern to us at the NYPD and in concert with our federal partners, the nexus to international terrorism remains strong and it will continue to do so. The programs that we've just described are put into place to ensure that collectively we can meet threats where they emanate from before they materialize here on our streets.

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D’esposito: One of the things that Mr Goldman mentioned in his opening remarks was about Fema's nonprofit security grant program. Commissioner Rider is charged with protecting one of the largest Jewish populations across this nation and I am honored to represent that same population. The nonprofit security grant program provides funding support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of a terrorist attack. In New York alone, anti Semitic attacks have increased by 39% from 2021 to 2022 reaching a record high. Commissioner. Have you observed the use of the nonprofit security grant program within Nassau County's large Jewish community?

Ryder: Yes, we have. So in Nassau County, we we've been very fortunate that we reach out to all of our, our schools. We have 56 school districts, 450 buildings. We have over 100 yeshivas that are out there and, and and houses of worship, every one of them has received an assessment from the NASA County Police Department. Our Homeland Security Office has done the security assessment with them.

We've advanced their security as far as going given the Rave app, which is a response app that we use in NASA County.It's in every one of our institutions and also the hardening of that security, putting in the ballads, putting parking conditions, lighting, anything that would make it as safe as we call them the person trap in the front of the building.So we've done a lot with our, our, our leaders, both from the religious side and school side, but we always can do more and they can always use more funding. So do you believe that the the nonprofit security grant program has been successful? It's, it's been invaluable.

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Ugh disregard fucking text, goes with other clip.

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>D’esposito: One of the things that Mr Goldman mentioned in his opening remarks was about Fema's nonprofit security grant program. Commissioner Rider is charged with protecting one of the largest Jewish populations across this nation and I am honored to represent that same population. The nonprofit security grant program provides funding support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of a terrorist attack. In New York alone, anti Semitic attacks have increased by 39% from 2021 to 2022 reaching a record high. Commissioner. Have you observed the use of the nonprofit security grant program within Nassau County's large Jewish community?

>Ryder: Yes, we have. So in Nassau County, we we've been very fortunate that we reach out to all of our, our schools. We have 56 school districts, 450 buildings. We have over 100 yeshivas that are out there and, and and houses of worship, every one of them has received an assessment from the NASA County Police Department. Our Homeland Security Office has done the security assessment with them.

>We've advanced their security as far as going given the Rave app, which is a response app that we use in NASA County.It's in every one of our institutions and also the hardening of that security, putting in the ballads, putting parking conditions, lighting, anything that would make it as safe as we call them the person trap in the front of the building.So we've done a lot with our, our, our leaders, both from the religious side and school side, but we always can do more and they can always use more funding. So do you believe that the the nonprofit security grant program has been successful? It's, it's been invaluable.

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LaLota: My first question is to you, sir, you mentioned this in your opening statement, the improvements we've made in those sorts of communications, data sharing, voice sharing, video sharing. Can you explain in about a minute or so into greater detail, sir? As to the advancements that you've made and to the extent that you share the FDNY shares with Port Authority NYPD or other agencies that your equipment is interoperable with them, that your tactics, techniques and procedures are compatible with other agencies. Can you tell me, sir what advances we've made in the last 22 years?

Pfifer: We made a lot of advances in the last 22 years. We share radio frequencies. We share a video into our emergency operations center. There's a live video feed video from NYPD helicopters. And I, I certainly would have loved to have seen that 22 years ago, but we do, we do it now and we've also worked with the private sector getting live feed videos from their helicopters. We work with the, the port authority. Not long after 9 11, there was a threat against the bridges, particularly the George Washington Bridge and I sat at a law enforcement meeting and, and it's just a man meeting a bunch of police and one fiery guy in the back. And I raised my hand and said, how do you collapse a bridge?And nobody knew and then port authority and, invite me into a meeting next, next day with the engineers and we sat down port authority, NY PDF DNY and we found out how that would occur and then I gave them some ideas. And then we changed procedures. Thank you, deputy.

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>Date of this?

Today, 4 hours ago