April 12, 2006

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OPERATION NEXUS NEWSLETTER
“A nation’s best defense is an educated citizenry.”
April 2006

This month, on April 19th, the country will mark the 11th anniversary of the 1995 truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh never broke his steely silence in court to apologize for, explain, or defend his actions in murdering 168 people, including 19 children, in the fertilizer bombing which gutted the building. The attack demonstrated the enormous lethality of an ammonium nitrate fertilizer and fuel oil (“ANFO”) type bomb. In its infamy, this case demonstrates how legitimate products can be misused to further a terrorist attack.

A Similar Plot Overseas

In March of 2004, suspected terrorists planning attacks in Britain were considering bombing nightclubs, trains or the country's power network, and were in the final stages of the al-Qaida linked plot when they were arrested.

The seven defendants -- all British -- were caught in anti-terror raids in and around London, during which police seized 1,300 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer used for homemade bombs -- about one-third the amount used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
The ammonium nitrate was being stored in a Self-Storage facility. It was discovered after British authorities “imported” the Operation Nexus initiative from the NYPD.

The Terrorist Triangle

All businesses must ensure that their products or services are not “exploited” by terrorist operatives seeking to acquire the means to commit an attack. Through participation in the Operation Nexus Network, businesses work cooperatively with the NYPD and law enforcement to diminish – or perhaps eliminate – a terrorist’s ability to pull together the materiel for an attack. While government officials strategize to optimally deploy police and law enforcement assets to close the “opportunity” component of the “Terrorist Triangle,” businesses in the private sector can assist law enforcement by protecting their products, inventory and legitimate services from misuse. Such measures cut into the “ability” of a terrorist to procure materiel for a plot.

OPPORTUNITY

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ABILITY DESIRE

The Nexus Bottom Line

Businesses inside New York City should call the NYPD Terrorism Hotline, available 24/7/365, @ 1-888-NYC-SAFE, to report any suspicious customer transactions or encounters.

Outside New York City, all businesses are encouraged to report any suspicious incidents or unusual fact patterns to local law enforcement. (Businesses outside NYC, after notifying their local police, are welcome to call the NYPD Terrorism Hotline for information sharing purposes.)

To join the Operation Nexus participating business network, please visit the NYPD website at www.nyc.gov/nypd and locate the Counter Terrorism link.