By Scott Brinton
Information sharing, the two noted many times, is critical to apprehending terrorists before they strike. Ridge said no federal agency puts law-enforcement agents to work 24/7/365. "You want and need to integrate the local and state police" in anti-terrorism efforts, he said.
Pataki noted that the battle against terrorism on American soil must extend beyond police officials to average citizens who report suspicious acts. "Every American is a first responder, he said. The governor also said the federal government has stepped up the flow of intelligence information from the federal to state levels since Sept. 11.
An estimated 250 people, many of whom were South Shore residents, turned out for the televised meeting at Hofstra's Monroe Lecture Hall in Uniondale.
During the hour-long session, Pataki cited the fundraising work of students from Barnum Woods elementary and Woodland middle schools in East Meadow on behalf of World Trade Center victims. By selling soft drinks and T-shirts and then soliciting matching funds, the students -- Leif and Thore Johnsen, Brendan and Ryan Hecht, Alec Reif and Melissa and Jennifer Lombardi -- raised more than $3,000. State Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City) had selected the students for recognition that evening. Hannon attended the town-hall meeting with a delegation of Long Island senators that included Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick).
Jason Squitieri, 21, a Hofstra University senior of Bellmore, asked about measures that are being taken to protect Muslims against bias attacks. Pataki and Ridge cited laws prohibiting religious discrimination, but both said that preventing bias attacks is up to all Americans. "When you see it, protest it," said Ridge.
Air security came up often. Jacqueline Pribil, a senior at South Side High School in Rockville Centre and president of the Student Government Association there, asked whether federal air marshals were definite for commercial airlines. The answer from Ridge: Yes.
Pribil said she wondered about the issue because her father, Kenneth, a retired customs agent, was recently asked to become an air marshal. Pribil, 17, told the Herald that she hoped whatever her father decides, "he doesn't get hurt."
The recent crash of Flight 587 in Belle Harbor, Queens, was also a topic. Ridge said that, by all accounts, it appears to have been a terrible accident, likely caused by severe turbulence, and not the work of terrorists.
Pataki also introduced his public-security team, which includes: James Kallstrom, director of the state Office of Public Security; Katherine Lapp, director of criminal justice services; James McMahon, police superintendent; Dr. Antonia Novello, health commissioner; Major Gen. Thomas Maguire, adjutant general of the New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs, and Edward Jacoby Jr., director of the state Emergency Management Office.
Speaking of New York's anti-terrorism initiatives, Kallstrom said the state's top priority is to "stop the next event from happening." He noted, though, that "no one can predict what may or may not happen tomorrow."
Also attending the meeting was John Carlsen, Nassau deputy police inspector and director of the county Office of Emergency Management. In an interview, Carlsen said Nassau's emergency-preparedness focus has shifted from natural disasters like hurricanes to terrorism. In fact, he said, the Sept. 11 attacks have caused the county "to virtually rewrite" its preparedness plans.
County Executive-elect Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said that, when he takes office in January, he plans to appoint an individual to coordinate information sharing with state and federal law-enforcement officials. He was not sure whether that official would assigned only to that task.
