Letter to Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security - Security at World Trade Center

Letter

Dear Secretary Johnson,

I write to urge the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to conduct an internal review of security procedures at the World Trade Center, which is owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). Last week, a 16 year old boy managed to sneak past four layers of security at the World Trade Center site, including a security guard sleeping on the job, and made it all the way to the spire, where he spent hours before he was discovered by a construction worker. Given the symbolic nature of this site, also known as Freedom Tower, is widely considered the top terrorist target in the country. These kinds of lapses in security are unacceptable and further investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security must be conducted to examine whether this is a systemic problem and action is needed to boost security at the site.

On March 16th, a 16-year old New Jersey boy named Justin Casquejo slipped through a hole in the fence around the perimeter at the World Trade Center, past security guards and climbed to the top of the spire. After having been on the site for two hours, Casquejo was finally caught by a construction worker. Six days after the incident, the media revealed that a security guard named Abdul Basher was caught sleeping on the job at 2:45 AM after a high-ranking Port Authority official used his smartphone to snap a photo of him reclining in a chair during a surprise inspection. Furthermore, three men on Monday posted a video on YouTube of themselves parachute jumping off the top of the World Trade Center September 13, 2013. Reports suggest they may have snuck through the same hole that 16-year Justin Casquejo may crawled through. All of these breaches of security in a short period of succession point some serious flaws in the security at the World Trade Center site that need to be addressed immediately before terrorist actors seeking to do harm are the ones who break through.

Since the September 11th attacks, the World Trade Center has been under construction. When completed, the site will have a security system costing tens of millions. According to the Port Authority, $478 million in federal funding was allocated for a new World Trade Center Vehicle Security Center project; and all vehicles that enter the site via the underground road way must be screened. According to media reports, a surveillance system for the World Trade Center was purchased in August but has yet to be installed. The security plan surrounding the site is more commonly known as the "Ring of Steel" and is supposed to be an impregnable, multi -- layered set of measures encircling the World Trade Center. A tremendous amount of resources are being committed to secure the site, yet they seem to be failing at an alarming rate. The plan involves 25 barriers, 13 guard booths, and a large number of streets are being closed or restricted to traffic. Additionally it involves over a thousand police officers, counterterrorism forces, and security guards protecting the site.

I urge you to have the U.S. Department of Homeland Security conduct an internal review into the security plan of the site and address any flaws that may be allowing unauthorized individuals to make their way into the site undetected. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff.

Sincerely,

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