Police Commissioner John Timoney assured Penn students, faculty and community members yesterday that there have been no direct terrorist threats on Philadelphia.
Originally scheduled to speak about his work developing staff management techniques for the New York Police Department, Timoney restructured his talk at the Fels Center of Government to focus on the changing role of police commissioners across the nation since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Timoney said that he is meeting with federal officials to keep local law enforcement agencies involved and that the city is working aggressively against any potential threats.
"The locals are a great source of information," Timoney said. "They know what we never will."
There has been increased fear among city residents in light of heightened security at 30th Street Station, the Liberty Bell and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
Timoney did his best to quell those fears, stressing his confidence in local citizens and law enforcement agencies. He cited a recent example involving the arrest of four Middle Eastern men caught trying to rent a U-Haul truck with false identification in Philadelphia. Three were found to be in the country illegally, and one had an outstanding arrest warrant for credit card fraud in New Jersey.
Timoney told the crowd of about 50 people in attendance yesterday that since the attacks, "there has been no specific credible threat made toward" Philadelphia.
While he acknowledged the sheer devastation of the terrorist attacks, Timoney also noted that some positive changes that have been made within the law enforcement community since Sept. 11. He cited increased communication among the local, state and federal levels of law bureaucracy as a positive response to the tragedy.
Timoney, a 35-year veteran of law enforcement whose experience ranges from street officer in the South Bronx to second-in-command of the New York Police Department, said he feels confident that he can lead the effort to revise law enforcement.
On Sept. 11, as the first plane slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, Timoney thought it was just an accident, something similar to an unintentional incident 40 years earlier in New York. Several minutes later, when the second plane hit, Timoney was stunned.
"I knew we were under attack then," he said. "We had to move quickly to mobilize the police. Because of having trained for rapid emergency response a few years ago during the Republican National Convention, our officers responded well."
Over the past several months, Timoney has worked with mayors and police commissioners of other major cities as well as with FBI Director Robert Mueller. Testifying several times before Congress, he has sought to improve the flow of information from the federal to local levels.
