Securing the City: Inside America's Best Counterterror Force--The NYPD

by Christopher Dickey

Christopher Dickey takes us inside the best and most ambitious anti-terror operation in the country, the seat-of-the-pants intelligence operation of the NYPD—with undercover resources all over the world and two extraordinary men in charge..

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Crime, True Crime, War

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 23, 2009

About the author

Christopher Dickey is a war correspondent, historian, and thriller writer, an authority on terrorism, and a memoirist. He is the Paris-based foreign editor of The Daily Beast, and is a contributor to NBC/MSNBC News. Chris also has been a frequent commentator on CNN, the BBC, and NPR. He was formerly a bureau chief for Newsweek in Paris and Cairo, and for The Washington Post in Central America and the Middle East.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what an interesting read. I have been doing my best to add a number of books on topics that relate to my work to my bookshelf and this one didn't disappoint. I was able to add some generalized knowledge of counter-terrorism as well as came up with a couple of ideas on my own company's emergency exercise design strategies.

Counter-terrorism in the 21st century is a new frontier. The NYPD has taken its own path to forging said frontier, and "Securing the City" is a chronicle of this path. The NYPD shows the two sides of terrorism preparedness. There is the very public side, in which our populace must understand that our agencies are doing all they can. This side includes the training, drilling, public outreach, and constant press. And then there is the more covert side, where preparedness officials attempt to identify and expose plots, fully test partner agencies' preparedness, etc. This covert side is what intrigued me the most - the lengths that the NYPD goes to to uncover potential suppliers of bomb-making materials, the steps it has taken to forge a practical working relationship with federal agencies, its success at gathering intelligence from around the globe.

Is the NYPD's approach suitable for all local law enforcement? Absolutely not. But can we glean helpful strategies based on what the NYPD does on a regular basis? Absolutely. The NYPD doesn't mess around. They know that terrorism is one of the city's highest-priority and highest-risk hazards and it stops at nothing to ensure city-wide preparedness. All of our communities should take such a realistic look at their own hazard analyses and work as hard to strengthen resilience to high-priority and high-risk hazards. Preparedness is not a linear or divergent process. Preparing for our biggest vulnerability is bound to strengthen our preparedness for lesser vulnerabilities. After all, there really is only one process used to evacuate a population, whether from terrorism, flooding, etc.

On a more "review-like" note, there were a number of typos in the text that were quite distracting. Other than that, the book read easily, in a conversational tone. Sometimes the endless barrage of terrorist names, response measures, training jargon, etc. can be overwhelming, but Dickey presents this information in such a way that I believe someone from well outside the emergency management-homeland security realm would enjoy "Security the City".

[RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN · Rating 4 out of 5]

RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “NYPD EXPANDS GLOBALLY TO PROTECT THEIR OWN.”
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*”When you catch a terrorist and look at the map in his or her pocket, it is always a map of New York; it’s not a map of some other place.”
*“Mayor Michael Bloomberg, July 2006”*

AND SO THE STORY BEGINS…

This book intricately details not only the changes that the NYPD deemed necessary post 9/11 to keep its own citizens… as well… as the world’s peace loving citizens safe… from terrorism… but also shares historical data regarding terrorist strikes… before 9/11. Did you know that Ellis Island… then known as “Black Tom Island”… had served as a storage yard for munitions waiting for shipment to Europe… before America was actually a part of World War I? On July 30, 1916 a “terrorist” set off a blast that not only sent shrapnel through the metal skin of the Statue of Liberty… and blew holes in buildings… but killed a ten-year-old boy in his crib in New Jersey. People were shook awake as far away as Philadelphia and Maryland. Many other pre-9/11 terrorist attacks including the assassination of Jewish Defense League leader Rabbi Meir Kahane… and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing… are covered… as the author “reverse-engineers” the current high state of terrorist alert… we now find ourselves living in.

Since 9/11 the NYPD has completely reconfigured its job descriptions… along with its intelligence and security boundaries. The two main characters in this reincarnation are Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly… and former CIA head of United States operations… and now NYPD Intelligence Chief David Cohen. Ray and David believe that New York’s role in the arena of world terror… is not unlike throwing a stone into a placid lake… you know there will be outward ripples. Terrorist activity in New York… affects the world… and terrorist activity in the world affects New York. The NYPD has broken new ground… by actually having men in more than ten countries overseas. They believe that having men out in the field… working in police stations in other countries…drinking beer with their foreign counter parts… accomplishes much more… than simply working out of an embassy… as our other agencies do. This of course has caused “conflicts” with the “THREE-LETTER-GUYS”… as Kelly and Cohen call the FBI… CIA… NSA… and others… but the problem of sharing information between these groups… is portrayed as having been worse… than is depicted in the movies… but with the forward thinking of the “new” NYPD… this seems to be improving. With the aforementioned international presence… this book covers in detail the Madrid bombings… the London bombings… suicide bombings in Israel… and more. The reader is also educated as to the pre-emptive legwork done by the NYPD which has “more cops on its rolls than the next five largest police departments in the country combined.” The NYPD feels that other agencies are more geared to catching terrorists after the fact… while Kelly’s and Cohen’s main thrust… is to find… or dissuade… them… before the attack is completed.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent and very readable view of New York City's efforts towards counter-terrorism. Dickey gives a historic perspective of terrorism in NY, describes the tensions between Federal agencies and the NYPD, and touches on the sometimes thin constitutional line between preventing a calamity and over-stepping the law.

An aside: why is it that everything I read paints the DHS, FBI and CIA as often bumbling, always in-fighting, bureaucracies that treasure individual political favor and control over what's best for the nation? I'm beginning to believe that it may be true.

[Bill Tress · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing turnaround in crime fighting. New York seems to operate as a small country and has its own CIA and world wide crime stoppers. Very interesting read.

[Josie England · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly interesting!! However the book spent more time on the beginning of the nypd counter terror force rather than what they actively do! Recommended read for any criminal justice nerd

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to think about in this reporting, from the era just before Wikileaks, before ISIS unveiled, and before Snowden revealed... and before the most recent local and national incidents of race and police violence. Previous incidents of police violence definitely appear as part of the complete picture of this large and complicated police force. I can still highly recommend Securing the City for emphasizing the multiculturalism of the human intelligence approach taken by the NYPD under Ray Kelly.
Looking yesterday, I learned that Commissioner Bratton is back at the helm of NYPD, appointed by Mayor DeBlasio. There is room for an updated edition from this author, one of our great journalists, and son of the poet James Dickey.
Recommended.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up after I heard the author interviewed on NPR. The interview piqued my interest and I thought, wow a fast paced exciting non-fiction book, Awesome!

Then I see the back book jacket -- Kathy Reichs (whom I love!) had this to say, "A fascinating, and frightening, look into the world of antiterrorism. Securing the City kept me riveted."

I am here to tell you book jackets lie!

The book in the end was interesting enough - but I was not riveted by any means. The first half of the book took forever to get through.

If you have the stamina for it -- it is very interesting but riveting, NO way!

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book that is kept from being a very good book by the author's blatant and unnecessary political jabs. It's a very good look at the steps the NYPD has taken since September 11, 2001, to keep the city safe from terrorism, but the author just can't keep himself from interjecting snarky comments about the Bush administration whenever he feels like it. But, then, what do you expect from a writer from Newsweek?

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Another institutional view point to the fight against terrorism. The NYPDs approach of infiltration of potentially dangerous groups, even the nuts, seems good to me. The conflict between police methods of bringing in evidence for a court, versus intelligence collection and prevention of attacks is well laid out i this book.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would seem to be a dull nonfiction topic to get through. But actually it was really fascinating. I don't know too much about the topic, but the presentation seemed at least somewhat balanced.

[Boston Book Bums · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dickey adeptly profiles NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, as well as his leadership staff, as he goes about assembling a counter terrorist intelligence apparatus that rivals most national agencies, including that of our own.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing inside view of NYPD
I like the way Dickey writes .. great content- yet easy to read
Feels like a bunch of short stories - not one long story.. since I have trouble paying attention, that style made it enjoyable to read.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contains some interesting information, but is too informal and politicized.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting and I learned a ton, both about anti-terrorism, and about the NYPD.

[Vince Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and readable study of NYPD's focused approach to more importantly preventing terror attacks rather than chasing perpatrators after the fact.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who love NYC and its police department will really love this book.

[MJ Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the NYPD throughout the years and its relationship with the federal government.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an interesting read, but perhaps got a too much into the players in the history for my liking. But interesting read regardless if you like learning about cities.

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at how the N.Y.P.D. transformed itself into one of the world's elite anti- terrorism forces post 9-11.