NYPD Could Take Down Plane In An 'Extreme Situation': Ray Kelly (VIDEO)

NEW YORK — The chief of the New York Police Department says city police could take down a plane if necessary.

Commissioner Ray Kelly tells CBS' "60 Minutes" that after the Sept. 11 attacks, he decided the city couldn't rely on the federal government alone. He set about creating the NYPD's own counter-terrorism unit. He says the department is prepared for multiple scenarios and could even take down a plane.

Kelly didn't divulge details but said "obviously this would be in a very extreme situation."

Mayor Bloomberg was careful to point that, while the NYPD has anti-aircraft weapons, that doesn't neccessarily mean they could have prevented 9/11. "It's not my job to rehash history," he told the Post. "Our job is to make sure that we stay safe going forward and that we show that the terrorists didn't win and that New York City is back."

The mayor also added, coyly: "New York City Police Department has lots of capabilities you don't know about and you won't know about them."

Other measures include sending NYPD officers abroad, using radiation detectors and creating a network of surveillance cameras in Manhattan.

The interview airs Sunday evening. It comes two weeks after the tenth anniversary of 9/11, when hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Comments

[Jherad]

02:41 AM on 09/30/2011

Great, they can take down a plane.

Now, can they deal with a peaceful protest without knuckle-dragging officers violating civil rights?

Didn't think so.

They need to go back to basics - like how not to be crap.

[bascombe]

08:21 PM on 09/27/2011

The NYPD mantra: We can and will kill

[FreedomHaawk]

07:29 PM on 09/27/2011

The source of our problem is our FOREIGN POLICY. The CIA is worst than most terrorist.

[bascombe]

08:22 PM on 09/27/2011

the police have made our foreign policy the new domestic policy.

[Bogey907]

06:27 PM on 09/27/2011

Big Brother is watching you.

[aceshigh11]

06:01 PM on 09/27/2011

So, basically the police has turned into a militarized, domestic version of the CIA.

Tell us something we didn't already know. This started with Daryl Gates and SWAT teams, and it's gotten more and more extreme every year.

Total security and information awareness, but at what cost?

[BigGuy]

03:36 PM on 09/27/2011

The information below is from the book, "Securing the City".

The NYPD has its own counter-terrorism unit with more than 1000 uniformed employees and more than 1000 civilian employees. There are more fluent speakers of the languages of the mid-east and central Asia working for the NYPD than there are working for all the countries and armies in the Western Hemisphere added up altogether.

There was a horrible bombing in the London Underground on July 7, 2005. An even worse bombing was planned of Paris the following year which was thwarted by dint of the efforts of the NYPD counter-terrorism task force. When the NYPD became aware of the bomb plot, they directly contacted the Nation of France and the City of Paris. That's how Raymond Kelly ended up becoming a member of the "Legion of Honor".

Raymond Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg could have been prosecuted for treason by George W. Bush's justice department because they directly contacted France and Paris instead of going to the FBI and the State Department. Raymond Kelly and Michael Bloomberg thought it wiser NOT to go to the State Department. They thought they'd be ignored. After all, on January 24th, 2001, Condoleezza Rice had scheduled a meeting to discuss terrorist threats against NYC. That meeting time was to have taken place on September 12th, 2001, but 911 happened the day before.

[OliverTwist]

12:55 PM on 09/27/2011

The NY City police - the US domestic bureau of the CIA .

They break the laws protecting your freedom to protect somebody - but maybe not you. Really.

[Wake Up Call]

12:52 PM on 09/27/2011

You can NOT prevent terrorist attacks. Just because they used aircraft last time doesn't mean they would use the same method another time. The wasted billions on trying to make airports safe is literally like plugging one hold in a mesh sieve. There are literally thousands of other methods that any determined person could use if they are willing to sacrifice their own life in the process. The ONLY reason that there hasn't been other serious attacks is obviously because they have already achieved their goal - to frighten Americans and call attention to themselves. Driving you into bankruptcy with trillions of dollars in anti-terrorism methods was just icing on the cake for these idiots. You gave them exactly what they wanted and THEN some.

[Morganster]

03:46 PM on 09/27/2011

"You can NOT prevent terrorist attacks." Really???

Looks like you haven't done your homework . . . Several attacks HAVE been prevented: Riverdale NY Bomb Plot in 2009, Marine Corps Base Plot in Quantico, the Zazi Subway Plot in NY, Federal Building Bomb Plot in Illinois and the list goes on.

[Joe Gould]

11:53 AM on 09/27/2011

When Commissioner Ray Kelly ended his tenure as NYC Mayor Dinkins' top cop, Ray went out on medial disability. That condition had to have been serious to warrant all the extra dollars he would get in retirement BECAUSE of his serious medical condition. It's remarkable how salutary his retirement was because he cleaved to Mayor Bloomberg as some sort of tick in his position as top copy. Either he lied about his medical condition when he went out on disability or he is seriously ill and should not be serving anyone anywhere. Which is it, Ray?

[littlepeople]

11:16 AM on 09/27/2011

While Kelly is collecting all these toys....his commanding officers are macing young women in the streets of NYC. WTF?

[Reinald Smith]

10:06 AM on 09/27/2011

And.. who is paying for this 'army'? Talk about overkill. Another example of how Bin Laden's plan to bankrupt us through our paranoia is truly working. I doubt even this level of security will substantially deter or prevent future attacks over traditional police work.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

12:35 AM on 09/27/2011

The thing I found most disturbing was how ineffective this all ends up being. It is more very expensive security theater. Faisal Shahzad, the "Times Square Bomber," showed that the security and surveillance really do not matter. It resulted in him be caught, but it would not have prevented death or injury. Busybodyism was more important than anything else. This is not the 1400s anymore. The attacking hordes are not coming over the hill to wage war in New York. The method of fighting is not a lot of people looking to engage in prolonged battles. It is quick powerful bursts. A vehicle loaded with explosives can go off long before any response is made. Would detecting a nuclear weapon really help matters much? Only if the actor cared about surviving. If the person felt the mission was more important, then it would just be a very short knowledge of how one is going to meet his or her end. It is just a lot of show. It looks impressive, but it can be so easily beaten and already has been. What exactly is the point? It seems like such a huge waste of funds and really damaging to the people that have to put up with it. You could cause as much psychological damage by making all clothing and bags and what not out of clear plastic. It would be cheaper and people would be no less safe.

[danaseilhan]

01:08 AM on 09/27/2011

NYPD has a long, inglorious history of treating NYC like their own personal little fiefdom. It's Giuliani's dirty little secret as to why the crime rate dropped during his time as mayor. The problem is that they didn't just pick on obvious criminals. This will be more of the same. It has nothing to do with terrorism. Terrorism is just an excuse. Actually they want to intimidate and cow the ordinary citizens there into going along with whatever is wanted by the reigning corporate powers-that-be.

I have never wanted to live in NYC and now I want it even less. My rights are violated enough every day as it is.

[holyghostie]

11:28 PM on 09/26/2011

Ray thanks for making me safer from college girls protesting Wall Street.
The mace in the eyes after fencing them in was a nice touch Ray.

Why no air to ground missle attacks on the park? Was it that the helo with the heat seeking missle was busy showing police family members a tour of the Hudson?

[anothervoter]

10:35 PM on 09/26/2011

This "Para-Military" force within the police department is a little disturbing.

[healthanalyst]

11:17 PM on 09/26/2011

The Taliban has more experience and better aim. They'll probably take out the police helo.

[holyghostie]

11:29 PM on 09/26/2011

doubtful

[OliverTwist]

12:56 PM on 09/27/2011

They are suspecting you already.

[fnyack]

08:59 PM on 09/26/2011

Ray Kelly, what are doing about Police Brutality in NYC, have you seen the Wall Street Tapes.

[cb3cb3]

03:52 PM on 09/27/2011

lol the "Wall Street Tapes"

[Hal May]

01:31 AM on 09/28/2011

Wall street tapes, please... the numerous shootings of unarmed african americans by the NYPD is a little bit more disturbing.