After attacks, new vigilance

After terrorists murdered more than 120 people in Paris last Friday, Rockville Centre police were on alert.

As soon as word of the attacks began to spread, the village Police Department began stepped-up protection of “high-risk” targets in the village. “We have a regular plan in place,” Police Commissioner Charles Gennario said. “We do have high-risk targets that we beef up the patrol around.”

Gennario said that village police would stay on heightened alert for the next few weeks. “All the police departments around the area will tell you this: The major targets are large targets, like New York City,” he explained. “But the attacks are planned in the suburbs. So the way the police look at it, the target is New York City. But it’s so well protected, we consider the suburbs the secondary target.”

The RVCPD is in contact with many other agencies, including the FBI, to track any possible threats. Gennario said there had never been a specific threat made against Rockville Centre, but the police had received warnings from the FBI about general threats, like places of worship being possible targets.

“Here in Nassau County we are responding with intensified patrols, especially at large, known gatherings,” County Executive Edward Mangano said at a press conference on Monday. “In addition, we continue to participate in the Joint Terrorism Task Force that provides important intelligence to keep our county safe. That task force is in touch with many, many agencies, including the New York Police Department, and over the years has absolutely prevented acts of terrorism here in our country and certainly here within our borders, and they’ll continue to work closely together in that regard.”

Acting Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said that there were no credible threats against the county, but the NCPD had nonetheless stepped up its patrols. He also emphasized that local Muslims are partners with, not targets of, his department’s counterterrorism efforts.

“We work with the mosques,” Krumpter said. “It’s important to remember that 99.99 percent of Muslims are good people, and they’re looking for the same thing that everybody’s looking for. … [The mosques] are partners in this fight against terrorism in Nassau County.”

The Islamic Center of Long Island, in Westbury, quoted a verse from the Quran in a statement on its website: “… [W]hoever kills an innocent person — it is as if he had slain mankind entirely.”

“The membership of the Islamic Center of Long Island condemns the terrorist attacks in Paris in the strongest possible terms,” the statement continued. “… Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this terrorist attack, their families, the people of France, and we stand in solidarity with them.”

At the national level, U.S. Rep. Peter King said, it is time for the U.S. to become even more aggressive in its fight against terrorism. King, a longtime Seaford resident and a 12-term congressman, is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

“It was tragic, which is obvious,” he said of the attacks. “What is very concerning is how well coordinated it was.” King said it was troubling that the terrorists were able to get heavy-duty guns and explosives and plan the attack undetected in a country with good intelligence.

“We definitely have to be on our guard,” he added. “The United States is more of a target than France, and the New York region is the No. 1 target in the United States.”

Scott Brinton, Micah Danney and Andrew Hackmack contributed to this story.