The NYPD will marshal 6,000 officers and it will lay out 800 tons of concrete barriers and 39 miles of metal barricades -- some blocking streets, others blocking sidewalks -- to protect Pope Francis during his visit this week, Commissioner William J. Bratton said Tuesday.
An NYPD contingency of specialized officers is also currently in Washington, D.C., to monitor and learn from the security surrounding the pope before his arrival in New York City on Thursday.
"We can see how he is acting with the crowds in Washington because he has this desire to mingle, which is very different from other popes," Bratton said at a morning news conference.
Bratton said he is confident of the "layers" of security being put in place to protect the pope and the crowds of thousands expected.
"This is an extraordinary infrastructure," Bratton said.
On Monday, a joint-intelligence bulletin, released to law enforcement agencies days ago by the FBI, came to light warning that terrorists could use marked police, firefighting or other emergency units, impersonating officers and officials, to launch attacks during the three-city papal visit.
NBC News obtained a memo with the bulletin, distributed by the Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Intelligence Center. NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism and Intelligence John J. Miller confirmed the bulletin at a Tuesday morning television appearance with Bratton on "CBS This Morning."
Bratton and Miller said there were no specific threats and when asked if officials expected the pope would have guardian angels looking after him during his visit to New York City on Thursday and Friday, Bratton joked, "He's going to have 6,000 guardian angels" -- meaning the NYPD.
But Miller, referencing the bulletin, which NBC said Monday was titled "First Responder Impersonators: The New Terrorist Threat" and does not specifically mention the papal visit, said it is a warning to law enforcement agencies that terrorists could impersonate officers and other responders to carry out attacks -- and that the NYPD, Secret Service, FBI and other agencies will be acting accordingly during the visit by Pope Francis.
"Everybody's going to be challenged," Miller said Tuesday, stating that every officer, every official, in every unit, including marked units, including everyone in uniform, will be questioned at every checkpoint. And, Miller said of officers and officials when questioned: "You'd better know what you're talking about."
The pope begins his visit to the United States on Tuesday with a trip to Washington, D.C. He also will visit Philadelphia.
Miller said that on Monday officials distributed a "joint-intelligence product" in conjunction with law enforcement agencies in the three cities that reviewed the potential threat picture -- and reviewed past attacks on pontiffs during visits worldwide.
"We wanted to remind everyone the ways these things have happened in the past," Miller said. Past attacks include the shooting of Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's at the Vatican City in May 1981 and an assault by a woman who rushed Pope Benedict XVI during Christmas Eve midnight Mass inside St. Peter's in December 2009 -- knocking the pope and French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray to the ground, breaking the cardinal's leg and hip.
Miller said that the most difficult aspect of battling terrorist attacks in the Internet age is that recruitment and planning often takes place "on a glowing laptop in a darkened bedroom" and that such scenarios are "very hard to penetrate."
On Monday, Miller said another hurdle facing authorities this week is that not only will the NYPD be tasked with guarding the security of the pope during his visit to New York City, but with securing the United Nations General Assembly, with 170 world leaders descending on New York -- not to mention an expected visit by President Barack Obama. These factors create "the single-largest and most-complicated security undertaking" in the history of the NYPD, Miller said Monday.
That said, Bratton said Tuesday that police and security agencies have established a "pretty tightly coordinated" game plan to protect Pope Francis and the hundreds of thousands who will come to see him here in New York City.
"What's a celebratory event for everybody is a security event for us," he said.
The FBI, the Secret Service and the NYPD will strike a "balance" in protecting Pope Francis during his visit to New York City on Thursday and Friday while also respecting his tendency to spontaneously dip into the crowd or allow people to come up to his vehicle, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday morning.
"We're going to have extensive, careful security," de Blasio told CNN's "New Day," "but we have to recognize that if His Holiness wants to stop and greet people, that it's our job to protect him no matter what he does."
The mayor added of the pontiff: "He will make that choice, so it's a balance that we're striking. But we feel very confident. We have the personnel, we have the equipment, we have the training. The pieces are in place."
Francis will have processions along Fifth Avenue and through Central Park where the ticketed public may view him, but the mayor and other city leaders have said security will be very tight. The pope's schedule includes evening prayers at St. Patrick's Cathedral, a visit to an East Harlem Catholic school, a meeting at the Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, remarks at the United Nations General Assembly and a Mass at Madison Square Garden.
Everywhere the pope goes, he and the public can expect to be safe because the NYPD has anti-terrorism experience, de Blasio said.
"It's fair to say security here is different than any other place in the world," the Democrat said. "In New York City, we take very seriously, very soberly the fact that we have experienced terrorism. We're the No. 1 terror target in the world, so we have a very strong anti-terror apparatus within the NYPD."
Officials last week stressed that there is no known credible threat involving Pope Francis or the UN meeting.
While three previous popes have visited the city since 1965, when Pope Paul VI became the first pontiff to do so, Francis' visit represent unique challenges because of his freewheeling nature and desire to be close to the people.
He will be bringing his own vehicle from Rome, reportedly a modified Jeep Wrangler, for the ride through Central Park. Francis is likely to get close to people, making police and federal officials anxious.
"In the course of his time here, he will be exposed to hundreds of thousands of people," Bratton said.
While Bratton joked last week about the pope having to pay his fare if he rides the subway, a church official in New York said privately that it is highly unlikely that Francis would attempt do so.
Police are also assigning a lot of hardware and vehicles to cover the papal visit and UN General Assembly events. Scores of emergency service vehicles are being marshaled. They contain an array of chemical, biological and radiation detectors. Individual cops will also be wearing smaller detectors with their uniforms.
With Maria Alvarez, Darran Simon and Anthony M. DeStefano
Copyright 2015 Newsday
Tribune News Service
