Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, a former consultant for London’s transport agency, says that the system that was the target of terror attacks yesterday has “extensive camera systems. Their personnel are extraordinarily well-trained.” In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Bratton said that after Great Britain’s 30 years of Irish Republican Army terrorism, yesterday’s episode “showed that despite all those precautions, there are still vulnerabilities.”
Asked how to prevent what happened in London from happening here, Bratton said, “There is no way to possibly prevent all potential threats. What you do is a combination of initiatives,” including “prevention and intervention systems” and “the ability to respond to an incident.” Bratton, who is convinced that terrorists some day will attack Los Angeles, said the London case indicates that terrorists may be shifting from attacking buildings to inflicting “civilian casualties in a very basic style of life, traveling to work.” He added: “If this is a new direction, it’s one we’re going to have to really focus police efforts on understanding and responding to.”
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bratton8jul08,1,7539026.story?coll=la-headlines-california