City and Port Authority agree on policing of World Trade Center site

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Port Authority recently revealed that the city of New York and the Port Authority of N.Y. and N.J. have agreed on a plan to jointly police and secure the World Trade Center site. The agreement marks a milestone in the rebuilding effort, under which the NYPD, working with the Port Authority, will develop and implement a comprehensive security plan for the site and the surrounding area. To ensure that security operations at the site are seamless, NYPD will have access to all Port Authority facilities within the area, and the NYPD and the Port Authority will develop a plan that addresses both the public streets and transportation facilities, as well as the private office towers and other public facilities at the site, including the World Trade Center Memorial.  "The security of the World Trade Center site is intimately tied to the security of all of Lower Manhattan and New York City," said mayor Bloomberg. "Today's agreement provides a clear delineation of responsibility so that the city and the Port Authority can work together to ensure seamless security that will keep the World Trade Center site safe and accessible for residents, businesses and the millions of people who will come to visit the World Trade Center Memorial. I'd like to thank deputy mayor Edward Skyler, police commissioner Ray Kelly, the Port Authority and their staffs for the hard work that went into this agreement, which will accelerate the rebuilding of the entire site." The city will form a dedicated police and security unit for the World Trade Center area on a schedule to be established by the NYPD as part of a security plan for the World Trade Center area to be developed by NYPD, with the concurrence of the Port Authority. The security plan will also provide for the World Trade Center Unit's management of the security operations control center and oversight of security operations; personnel and technologies, including screening procedures and vehicular access, as well as the interface with the Port Authority with respect to its law enforcement and security activities at the World Trade Center, to be implemented through a Port Authority World Trade Center Command Center. The Port Authority will have primary responsibility for all law enforcement and security activities at the World Trade Center transportation hub, will exercise command and control over Port Authority police personnel at the World Trade Center transportation hub, will participate in and conduct police and security operations with respect to all office towers, and memorial and cultural facilities at the World Trade Center in accordance with the security plan, and will directly or through its tenants be responsible for, and bear the costs of, the installation and maintenance of all security equipment at the site. To foster security coordination between agencies, the Port Authority and the city will form a World Trade Center area security advisory committee. The committee will meet on a regular basis to review reports and consider law enforcement and security related matters. The committee will include a representative of the city, the Port Authority, the governor of N.Y. and the governor of N.J.