Community Corner

Government Security Heightened Following Bin Laden's Death

NJ Transit asks customers to watch out for any suspicious activity.

On the heels of Osama bin Laden's death, NJ Transit, along with law enforcement across the state, plans to maintain a heightened state of vigilance across the transportation system.

NJ Transit notes that customers may observe an increased state, local and NJ Transit police presence in and around key locations. However, the agency emphasizes that there is no specific or credible threat against the NJ Transit system at this time.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also said today that "there are no new immediate threats against the city."

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Even so, some U.S. government officials have expressed a fear of reprisal.

“Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation,” the State Department said in a travel advisory, “U.S. citizens in areas where recent events could cause anti-American violence are strongly urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations.”

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Indeed, American embassies around the world have been placed on a higher security alert.

Brig. Gen. John Marshall III, retired NJ Army Air National Guard, was responsible for security across northern New Jersey immediately after 9/11.

Marshall told Montclair Patch that—although the world is safer with bin Laden gone—no one should become complacent.

“I believe this was a tremendous strike at terror that he laid throughout the world," he said. "When one looks at the terror he caused with the (U.S.S.) Cole, in Somalia and in the Sudan, the world’s a better place without him.

“The world today may be safer (without him), but we still need to practice vigilance," he said.

For its part, NJ Transit said it continues to maintain close communications with the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, the FBI, and agencies at the municipal, county, state and federal levels.

In a statement, NJ Transit said that, "We urge customers who see suspicious activity or unattended packages at stations, aboard trains or buses, or near transit facilities to call the NJ Transit security hotline at 1-888-TIPS-NJT or notify a NJ Transit police officer. All calls are investigated, and all information is confidential." 

Since 9/11, NJ Transit police have:

  • Increased the number of uniformed and plainclothes police officers on patrol.
  • Deployed additional NJ Transit K-9 bomb detection teams, in addition to teams provided by the New Jersey State Police and local law enforcement partners.
  • Established vehicular inspection checkpoints and barricades at major terminals and stations.
  • Increased the use of electronic surveillance and detection systems.


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