September 11, 2016
This chapter assesses the overwhelming task of building up Coast Guard security operations after the 9/11 attacks. A decade and a half later, the new captain of the port, Captain Michael Day said that the current culture of vigilance combined with an even stronger “unity of purpose and effort” than that which he extolled in 2001 have created a far safer port. Today's security systems are much more integrated across agencies than they were before. These important, although somewhat intangible, differences between then and now have also been reinforced by the very tangible reality of infrastructure. The Port of New York and New Jersey has received what Day called the “enabling mechanism of fairly robust port security grants.” Not only does the Coast Guard have better tools and equipment, it also has better systems in place for addressing security issues with a multiagency approach. And now, for the first time, there is an actual maritime evacuation plan.