An unrelenting stream of suspicious-package reports -- and the need to investigate all potential threats in a post-9/11 world -- is stretching federal and local law enforcement agencies in New York and Washington.
One legacy of the attacks is that police agencies depend more than ever on the public to report suspicious activity, knowing their cooperation means authorities will be buried in reports, most of which turn out to be nothing.
What's more, the reports routinely force street closures and building evacuations in Washington and New York at a cost of unknown millions of dollars, according to police estimates.
Since the terrorist attacks in 2001, New York City police have fielded 83,749 such calls -- the overwhelming majority resulting in the recovery of benign handbags, kids' backpacks, suitcases and trash bags discarded by the homeless, according to NYPD records.
Last year, after four years of steady decline, the number of calls in New York surged to 10,567, up from 7,411 in 2009.
In Washington, the numbers, though smaller, have been rising for the past four years, in part because of an aggressive national surveillance strategy called "If You See Something, Say Something" launched last year by the Department of Homeland Security, said Thomas Wilkins, executive director of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department's Intelligence Fusion Division.
Federal and local officials said the calls are part of a new normal in law enforcement. Yet some acknowledge that maintaining the response has been a daunting task over the past 10 years.
"I don't know how long we can keep this up," said former New Jersey governor Tom Kean, chairman of the 9/11 Commission, which examined the events leading to the 2001 attacks. "You hope that somehow things will go back to normal, but it's not there yet."
Calls from the public, though numerous, are among the most necessary parts of New York's anti-terrorism strategy, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
Civilian reports of suspicious people, activity, packages and vehicles have assisted in foiling plots against the city, including an attempt in May 2010 to detonate a car bomb in Times Square.
"It does cause the deployment of considerable personnel," Browne said. "But we want the population vigilant. That is the post-9/11 reality."
In Washington, the police response to such calls can require five or six officers to resolve, Wilkins said.
Last year, the city fielded 1,023 calls, up from 730 in 2009. About 85% of those calls required the deployment of bomb squads or other hazardous materials units, he said.
"It does take up valuable resources," Wilkins said. "For as long as there is a potential threat, we'll have to maintain this level of vigilance."
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