[BARC-List] FYI: N.Y.C. team is at the ready

[Frank Murphy]

New York Daily News - <http://www.nydailynews.com>
N.Y.C. team is at the ready
BY MICHELE McPHEE
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF
Monday, July 26th, 2004

BOSTON - An elite search and rescue group code-named
New York Task Force One has been activated for the
first time since it lost 100 members in the World
Trade Center and is camped outside Boston.
New York Task Force One is a disaster response team
made up of firefighters, Emergency Medical Service
doctors, Emergency Service Unit cops and other crisis
support personnel.

Its convoy of trucks, stocked with search and rescue
dogs, specialized medical equipment, tents and enough
food and shelter to be completely self-sufficient for
72 hours, reached the Boston area yesterday evening.

Its crews set up camp in a "metropolitan area outside
of Boston" and will be on call around the clock for
the next four days as an urban search and rescue team
if the worst happens at the Democratic National
Convention this week.

The exact numbers in Task Force One and its location
are being kept secret. The stealthy operation is being
run by the Department of Homeland Security's Federal
Emergency Management Agency.

Yesterday's deployment of the task force marked the
first time it was activated since 9/11.

"Between the FD and PD , we lost more than 100 men on
our team that day. This is our first mission, and it's
monumental that we are going on this," FDNY Battalion
Chief Fred LaFemina, the leader of New York Task Force
One, told the Daily News.

The task force is the "best of the best" among FEMA's
28 urban search and rescue teams, said Office of
Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Bruno.

"Task Force One has been deployed to the area around
the Democratic National Convention in case they are
needed. ... They are prepared and ready to serve,"
Bruno said. "These people have trained together,
worked together and will live together for the
duration of the convention."

The team was activated because of intelligence
warnings that Islamic terrorists are intent on
disrupting the elections and that an attack could come
soon.

"Terrorists have been trying to sway political
elections around the world. They did it in Spain with
the attack on the trains. There is always the fear we
are under the gun, and always the possibility of an
event happening," LaFemina said. "We are being
proactive instead of reactive."

New York Task Force One personnel are not the only
representatives from the city in Boston for the
convention. The NYPD, FDNY and OEM have additional
staff in place to observe the security measures and
report back to organizers of the Republican National
Convention to be held at Madison Square Garden next
month. 

The New York City officials are working with the
dozens of law enforcement agencies reporting to the
Secret Service during the DNC this week, Boston Police
Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole told The News. Although
Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly
have vowed to keep New York City fully operational
during the RNC - leaving Penn Station and the streets
ringing the Garden open for business - Boston has
virtually shut down, closing down highways and major
public transportation hubs in the area around the
Fleet Center. 

"This is very different here. The FleetCenter is very
different than Madison Square Garden. There are
problems that are unique to Boston," O'Toole said.

She said Boston sent police brass to New York City
during major events to note NYPD tactics. "We have
learned a lot from New York. Hopefully, they can learn
something from us."

See NY Times site for pics.