NY-NJ creates security gaps in harbor BY ERROL A. COCKFIELD JR. ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF March 4, 2005 Officials in charge of counter-terrorism at New York's harbor yesterday described a porous security system where jurisdictional lines between New York and New Jersey prevent law enforcement from effectively protecting waterways. Officers patrolling the harbor that both states share lose authority under current law when they cross the border into the neighboring state -- a vulnerability in the city's vast port network. "The jurisdictional lines between our two states are muddy at best and create a disjointed, complicated and inefficient maritime law enforcement posture," said New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey, whose office is in charge of homeland security. During a hearing on port security held in lower Manhattan, Harvey told members of the State Senate's Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs that during recent heightened threat alerts Gov. George Pataki has had to declare a state of emergency to allow New Jersey authorities to inspect trains headed from their state to New York City. Harvey said the governor's executive order is a "short-term fix" that does not fully address a vexing case of inefficiency for the nation's third-largest cargo port. Harvey's remarks came amid a stark portrayal of security at the city's port, the No. 1 gateway nationally for petroleum products and a corridor that helps supply five states with aviation fuel, gasoline and home heating oil. Many security experts believe the limited number of checks of shipping containers coming into the nation's ports to be the greatest risk for exposure to terrorist threat. Post Sept. 11, 7 percent of the containers are now inspected through a voluntary system, up from 2 percent. As cargo is moved across international waters and often through several ports, "There are no standards for how that is done nor accountability for the integrity of the container as it changes hands," said Richard Larrabee, director of the port commerce department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Concerned about the possibility of a terrorism-related closure of the harbor, Harvey said he is working with the New York State Office of Homeland Security to sort out the jurisdictional issues, but he said both states would ultimately need legislative action. He called on the senators gathered for the port security hearing to author a bill. State Sen. Michael Balboni (R-East Williston), chairman of the Senate committee, said the state and federal governments should set aside more dollars to deal with a potential liability that could cripple the regional and national economies. Copyright C 2005, Newsday, <http://www.newsday.com/> Inc. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
