Posted on 11/29/2005 1:32:36 AM PST by Lorianne
MIAMI - City police will attempt to thwart terrorists by staging random, "in-your-face" security operations at so-called "soft" targets ranging from city buses to sports arenas, officials announced Monday.
The idea behind the "Miami Shield" program is to make such targets less attractive to terrorists and improve vigilance among Miami residents. Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said al-Qaida and other terror groups carefully plot their attacks based in part on surveillance that identifies flaws and patterns in security.
Random, high-profile security operations will keep terrorists guessing about where police might be next, he said. For example, a group of officers might surround a downtown bank building, checking the identification of each person going in and out and handing out leaflets about terror threats.
"This is an in-your-face type of strategy. It's letting the terrorists know we are out there," Fernandez said.
Specific "soft" targets identified Monday include the AmericanAirlines Arena, where the Miami Heat basketball team plays, buildings in the Brickell Avenue financial corridor, prominent hotels, city buses and rail lines and the downtown Bayside entertainment complex. Rail and bus lines in London and Madrid have been the scene of recent terror attacks, as well as hotels in Jordan.
Police Chief John Timoney, a member of the local FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, said there was no specific, credible threat of an imminent terror attack in Miami, but he said the city has repeatedly been mentioned in previous terrorism intelligence reports as a potential target - possibly in the nation's top 10 among major cities.
Timoney also noted that 14 of the 19 hijackers who took part in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks lived in South Florida at various times and that other alleged terror support cells have operated in the area.
"It's an easy place to hide and go unnoticed for a variety of reasons," Timoney said.
Under the plan, officers will mount these security operations randomly and at various times of night and day. Along with checking identification, officers will hand out "Miami Shield" cards with police phone numbers and other anti-terrorism information. They'll even hand out pens bearing the e-mail address of a police homeland security site.
Uniform and plainclothes police will ride city buses and rail lines, while others will conduct longer-term surveillance operations at some potential targets. Miami officials said they weren't sure if similar programs were being used elsewhere and that cities have tailored their anti-terrorism programs to their specific abilities and needs.
Some police counterterrorism actions around the country have sparked debate about their constitutionality. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed one lawsuit in New York to challenge random searches of the bags of subway riders; a federal appeals court has halted pat-down searches at the stadium in Tampa where the NFL's Buccaneers play after another ACLU lawsuit.
Howard Simon, executive director of ACLU of Florida, said the Miami initiative as announced appears aimed at ensuring people's rights are not violated.
"What we're dealing with is officers on street patrol, which is more effective and more consistent with the Constitution," Simon said. "We'll have to see how it is implemented."
Mary Ann Viverette, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said the Miami program is similar to those used for years during the holiday season to deter criminals at busy places such as shopping malls.
"You want to make your presence known and that's a great way to do it," said Viverette, police chief in Gaithersburg, Md. "We want people to feel they can go about their normal course of business but we want them to be aware."
Fernandez said Miami officials want people to take notice of the beefed-up security so they are reminded that the threat from al-Qaida and its sympathizers has not disappeared.
"People are definitely going to notice it," he said. "We want that shock. We want that awe. But at the same time, we don't want people to feel their rights are being threatened. We need them to be our eyes and ears."
At Monday's Heat game against the New York Knicks, season ticket holder Tony Gonzalez, 34, said he wasn't worried about any potential violation of civil liberties.
"When you enter an arena or stadium at full capacity you just don't know who is going through the turnstiles," said Gonzalez, an attorney. "Everything that helps our security, I'm for it."
Yeah, I figured that when I read the headlines.
More harassment of little old Swedish-American Ladies from Minnesota or Japanese Americans or whatever - anbody but obviously Islamic types who are the ONLY people involved in this activity.
Political correctness is destroying America.
People were warned, but the statist over ruled. No tin foil was needed. Blackbird.
Many of them had expired visas but if we're not going to do anything about illegal immigrants/entrants anyway how is this going to help?
And it won't do a damn thing to stop the next terrorist attack.
Actually, it will increase the probability of one.
Who won't even be detained.
This is one of the more idiotic things I've seen lately.
What part of "Police State" do these Howard Mitty Special Forces Wannabes understand?
Sure, the Gestapo staged the Elian raid there, but that was the Feds. I thought Miami was the last free spot in North America. This sucks.
If not your papers, at least you could show them your private parts.
Howard=Walter.
you must be from a warmer clime ?
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