NYPD buys mobile surveillance vans to watch Sandy-hit neighborhoods

To keep an eye on some of the neighborhoods hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy, the New York City police department has acquired a small fleet of innovative surveillance vans. Built by TerraHawk, LLC of Dallas, Texas, the NYPD is using four Mobile Utility Surveillance Tower (MUST) vans to patrol some areas of the city that lost power. Animal New York says that the vehicles are being used in Staten Island, Far Rockaway, Coney Island, and Howard Beach.

The idea of mobile surveillance is nothing new, since we've all seen those little trailers in mall parking lots around the holiday shopping season, but TerraHawk has created an all-in-one vehicle that can be deployed to an area quickly. Driving around, the MUST looks like a raised-roof, four-wheel-drive Ford E-Series, but when needed, a tower extends from the rear of the van using scissor lifts to a height of 25 feet. Raising the pod takes less than two minutes, and it can be used in areas with winds of up to 40 miles per hour. For added stability, built-in jacks are used at each corner of the 9,600-pound van.

When parked, the MUST uses an efficient lithium-ion battery pack rather than a generator, which would burn fuel and create exhaust emissions.

How much does one of these eye-in-the-sky trucks cost? Well, in base form (without any on-board technology, ballistics protection or four-wheel drive), they start anywhere from $150,000 to $175,000. The units purchased by the NYPD are powered by Ford's 6.8-liter V10.

 

Press Release

Patented Mobile Tower Vehicles assist NYPD in Hurricane Sandy-affected areas

Police use elevated surveillance capsules to establish a presence and deter crime in neighborhoods with no power

DALLAS, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- The New York City Police Department, through a GSA purchase, recently acquired four M.U.S.T. (Mobile Utility Surveillance Towers) from TerraHawk, LLC – a Dallas-based manufacturing company.

TerraHawk, LLC , is the only company in the world that owns a patent to manufacture this unique 25 foot- high surveillance platform mounted on a scissor lift that extends out of the top of a conversion vehicle.

During preparation and planning in the few days before massive hurricane Sandy ravaged parts of the East Coast, officials at NYPD immediately requested an expedited delivery and deployment of the four 4-wheel drive units that had previously been scheduled for later in the month.

TerraHawk's Owner and President, Tom James, said on Monday, "My operations team on the ground in New York has reported to me that the four units are currently deployed in the most hard-hit areas of New York including Staten Island, Far Rockaway and Howard Beach, Queens and Coney Island. We have been working along with officers at NYPD almost around the clock for the past week to provide on-site training and operational guidance. From what I understand, the officers are working in a state of emergency situation to maintain a police presence in the communities and our TerraHawk units are providing an elevated platform, fully powered with lighting and equipped with HurleyIR infrared cameras for monitoring areas without power where looting could easily occur."

James noted, "Our units are easily and quickly deployed in about two minutes and only require one operator to deploy. This allows a better response time to the benefit of law enforcement as situations change or arise in these neighborhoods without power. We have gotten good feedback from the field regarding the effectiveness and practicality of our patented technology."

The rapid response mobile tower vehicle has been a boon to other law enforcement endeavors around the country. With several units deployed at Sheriff's Departments on the Texas-Mexico border and many other units located strategically within major police departments across the United States, TerraHawk, LLC has found its product in high demand as part of the lucrative Mobile Surveillance Tower market that is estimated to gross 40-50 million dollars annually, world-wide.

Internationally, law enforcement officials in countries such as Brazil and Chile are eyeing TerraHawk's patented technology. The Ministry of Justice for the government of Brazil has issued public requests for mobile tower technology for use in the 2013 FIFA Confederation World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics that will be held in Rio De Janeiro. James disclosed that his company has been contacted by government officials and company representatives are working to match their proven technology with these international requests.

James also said his company has a variety of chassis options in design and production and will be unveiling new models in the coming year. The light urban domestic models that were purchased by New York and Chicago Police Departments and were utilized during the NATO Summit protests in Chicago last May are equipped with a level of ballistic protection but James said his company can also produce fully-armored units on a larger vehicle chassis.

"We have been monitoring the situation in New York during this most trying time for law enforcement and think we have been able to provide a less complicated and more practical mobile tower solution in their time of need and we hope our technology will prove to be a valuable asset not only in emergencies but also in everyday use to one of the best-equipped and highly effective police departments in the world," concluded James.

 

Credit : Autoblog

Photo Recap : Occupy Wall Street Protesters vs. The NYPD

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Never Seen 9/11 Footage Released By Firefighter-Videojournalist

On the 10th Anniversary of the World Trade Center disaster, a firefighter-videojournalist is releasing never-before-seen footage of the rescue and recovery effort at Ground Zero following the collapse of the twin towers. The footage, filmed by fire-rescue videojournalist Lou Angeli, depicts the surreal sights and sounds of the disaster zone that was off limits to news cameras and press.
Serving in a dual role as a firefighter and documentarian, Lou Angeli worked alongside rescue teams filming their rush to find victims in 14 acres of debris. It’s a scene very few have seen because most of Angeli’s Ground Zero footage has never been released…until now.
Angeli’s 2 hour reel chronicles the actions of thousands of emergency personnel and volunteers, who served at the most horrible disaster imaginable. Interviews with emergency responders and support volunteers reveal untold facets of the rescue mission and the support operation that kept the wheels turning at Ground Zero.
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“When everything could have totally fallen apart,’ Angeli says, ‘these remarkable people revealed to the rest of the world the true meaning of the American Spirit.”
Angeli views this collection of video as an historical piece. “Our recollection of that day and the heroes who served so gallantly is fading,” The filmmaker reminds us. “We need to rejuvenate that spirit by remembering the sacrifice of these men and women, who left family and home to assist fellow Americans in crisis.”

Rescue and Recovery at Ground Zero from Lou Angeli on Vimeo.

Crime : Expanding network of security cameras is valuable crimefighting tool, NYPD Commissioner Kelly says

A look inside the NYPD's command center. Commish says Ring of Steel has helped capture scores of subway criminals.

The city's top cop said Thursday the ever-expanding network of security cameras monitoring Manhattan streets and subways has played a key role in scores of recent arrests.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the so-called Ring of Steel technology has helped cops nab about 100 criminals in the subways in the past eight months alone.
Most of those bandits were collared for assault, purse-snatching and robbery. In one case, cops used aboveground cameras to retrace the steps of a suspect in a sexual assault as he walked from the crime scene back to his job, Kelly said.
The NYPD developed the Ring of Steel following 9/11, hoping it would become an important crimefighting tool, particularly in the battle against terrorism.
Since then, by adding cameras from businesses to the program, the fledgling system has been expanded greatly.
"The structure is in place to significantly increase the number of cameras at the right spots," Kelly said yesterday before cops led reporters on a tour of the system's command center in lower Manhattan.
The network was originally intended to run south from Canal St. and also cover midtown from river to river between 30th and 60th Sts.
Right now, there are about 1,800 closed-circuit cameras in place, divided equally between midtown and downtown.
When the system is completed, it will feature as many as 3,000 cameras, Kelly said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority joined the program last summer, adding 590 cameras throughout the subway system.
The high-tech network cost about $200million, with the city contributing $8 million and the federal Department of Homeland Security footing the rest of the bill.
It has also proven effective in tracking down people who mistakenly leave a bag on a sidewalk - normally innocent moments of forgetfulness that must be treated seriously because of the terrorism threat, Kelly said.
The command center, perched in a skyscraper's penthouse, has a 40-foot-tall wall of television screens showing camera footage. In an adjacent area, there is a command center for monitoring radiation detectors from throughout the city.
Kelly said video footage will automatically be deleted unless it relates to a specific investigation.

NYC Officer Allegedly Lets Inmate Use Her Cell Phone

(credit: AP)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – A New York City correction officer is accused of bringing her cell phone into a jail and letting an inmate use it.

Rosalyn Wilkes, who worked at the Manhattan Detention Center, was charged on Monday with promoting prison contraband and taking her cell phone to work. She was suspended for 15 days and placed on modified duty with no inmate contact.

Prison rules prohibit officers from bringing their personal cell phones to work. Prosecutors say the inmate was in jail for weapons possession and robbery.

NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly OK after snowy smashup on Gowanus Expressway

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly was unhurt in a three-car smashup Wednesday.

A police car carrying NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly was involved in a three-car smashup on the snow-slick Gowanus Expressway on Wednesday, cops said.

The unmarked police vehicle - a 2008 Ford Expedition - was traveling behind a white van as it merged onto the Belt Parkway entrance ramp near 65th St. in Bay Ridge at 8 p.m., police said.

Suddenly, a red sedan cut off the van as the two-lane ramp narrowed to one lane - causing the driver of the Ford Econoline to brake hard and fishtail out of control, police said.

The van slid sideways and got wedged across the roadway between a snow embankment and a jersey barrier - causing the SUV carrying Kelly to T-bone the van at 40 mph, cops said.

A livery car behind Kelly's SUV smashed into the rear end of the vehicle.

No airbags were deployed in any of the vehicles.

Police and firefighters responded to the scene, but everyone involved refused medical attention.

All vehicles were damaged in the crash, but only the van had to be towed away.

The driver of the red sedan continued without stopping.

NYPD Trains for New Type of Attack

Earlier this month the New York Police Department ran an antiterrorism exercise simulating an attack on the city.

A team of terrorists unleashed a coordinated series of bombings and gun attacks around the city in the simulation. At one point, terrorists attacked New York police officials visiting wounded officers in a hospital. By the time the daylong attacks were over, dozens of people had been killed and many more wounded.

The NYPD simulation was different from any of the terrorist incidents that have actually hit New York, such as the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks where terrorists hijacked planes to destroy the World Trade Center, or the foiled Times Square car-bombing attempt in May of this year.

Instead, the simulation deliberately mirrored the 2008 massacre in Mumbai. Within minutes of one another on the night of Nov. 26, 2008, 10 gunmen attacked various locations in the Indian capital, including two luxury hotels, a hospital and a railway station. The attack stretched on for three days as hostages were taken at several of the locations. Ultimately, 174 people were killed.

Until Mumbai, NYPD counterterrorism officials felt reasonably comfortable that they were prepared for any type of terrorist attack. But that comfort level was built on preparing for a single event, not a series of coordinated attacks that would terrorize a city for days on end.

"The Mumbai attack two years ago was a bit of a game changer," Mitchell Silber, head of the NYPD's intelligence analysis division, said. "It was a model that most counterterrorism practitioners hadn't really considered. The armed gunmen roaming around the city taking hostages, that wasn't something we had seen by any jihadist group. That was a real eye-opener." Mr. Silber said the more NYPD officials learned about the Mumbai attacks "the more similarities we saw between Mumbai city and New York City." Both, he said, are financial centers; both are surrounded by water on three sides; both get intense media attention.

The latest simulation made additional sense, he said, in light of the rumors this past fall that jihadists were planning another "Mumbai-style" attack somewhere in Europe.

So on Dec. 3, the NYPD's top brass gathered inside the department's headquarters in downtown Manhattan, in the Police Academy on East 20th Street and a third location, which police don't want to identify, that will be activated in the event police headquarters is destroyed. More than 40 senior commanders took part, and a facilitator introduced "injects," or new complications, into the exercise.

According to a memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the police were given a fictional scenario that began with President Barack Obama visiting New York for a bill signing. At the same time, convicted Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad was scheduled to appear in federal court. The attacks began with bombings in downtown that resulted in 18 dead and dozens injured. The president went ahead with the bill signing at the World Trade Center site, when another bomb went off nearby. He was whisked away.

The attack wasn't over. Six gunmen piled out of a van at Herald Square and opened fire on shoppers and pedestrians. They then entered the Macy's department store and took 26 hostages.

As in Mumbai, police in the simulation had trouble containing and anticipating the terrorists. At one point, police who tried to rescue hostages were shot by snipers. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Chief of Department Joseph Esposito went to Bellevue Hospital to visit wounded police officers, then both were incapacitated when a bomb exploded inside the emergency room, according to the simulation.

This is the eighth such large-scale tabletop exercise held by the NYPD since Mumbai, according to Paul Browne, the NYPD's spokesman. He said this exercise provided several valuable lessons. For instance, conventional wisdom was that the best way to deal with multiple subway bombings was to shut down all mass transportation and evacuate everyone by foot, Mr. Browne said. But the exercise showed the advantage of continuing to use buses during an attack to shepherd civilians out of lower Manhattan.

The exercise also showed that the first responding officers to Macy's shouldn't have evacuated people and waited for reinforcements, the traditional response in a hostage situation. Instead, the police could have minimized casualties by quickly finding and killing the terrorists who were shooting people.

Mr. Browne said the exercise also served as a reminder that the NYPD needs to obtain or update floor plans of the city's large department stores in case hostage-taking or some other standoff occurs there. Currently, the NYPD keeps floor plan copies for all of the city's major hotels and many popular buildings.

The department has taken other steps to prepare for a similar attack. Since Mumbai, Mr. Browne said, the NYPD has trained and equipped an addition 375 officers to use "heavy weapons" for a prolonged siege situation. The heavy weapons—MP5 submachine guns and Mini-14 semiautomatic carbine rifles—are needed to counteract military-style assault weapons like the ones used in Mumbai.

Lastly, police are preparing for more chaos. They now assume that when they advise civilians to "shelter in place," many will flee the island on foot as they did during the last major power blackout. That means police will need to protect pedestrians leaving Manhattan via the East River bridges or ferries.