With terrorism still a prevalent threat ten years after September 11, New York City is taking the necessary precautions in order to prevent another attack. In an interview on 60 Minutes, Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, says that city police could take down a plane if needed. Previously, people believed that only the military had this ability, so this development has proven to be an interesting one. While many people believe that this is an important ability for the police to have, others have concerns.
When Ray Kelly was asked if the New York Police Department had the means to take down an aircraft, he replied, “Yes, I prefer not to get into the details but obviously this would be in a very extreme situation.” This spurred a great deal of interest, and after the show aired, a source expanded on the situation. This source told the New York Post that the weapon Kelly was referring to was a Barret .50 caliber rifle, which could be mounted to almost any police helicopter.
In response to questions from reporters, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said that, “The NYPD has lots of capabilities that you don’t know about and you won’t know about.” This concerns people, including terrorism expert Maki Haberseld, at John Jay College in New York. She believes that the president or an elected official should make these decisions. Since police chiefs are appointed by mayors, Haberseld said that it is a, “scary perspective that someone like a police chief would have this much discretion”.
Regardless of concerns, the New York Police Department states that the rifle would only be deployed on “special occasions,” and is locked away in a safe. It is only available to military and law-enforcement agencies, and would only be used in extreme situations.
Hopefully, there will never be a need for a weapon like this. Society may be worried about the discretion given to the police department, but they have our best interests in mind. If there was a threat, it may be better for the police to have a weapon of this magnitude. To give the police the ability to shoot down a plane, may prevent another national tragedy from occurring.
