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U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Chad Saylor
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Inside No. 1 Third Street Wharf -- the headquarters
of the Harbor Police Department (HPD) -- the question hangs in the chief's office
like a funeral pall: what if, despite the best efforts of law enforcement, suicidal
terrorists detonate a nuclear bomb smuggled into the Port of New Orleans?
Robert Hecker, 56, a 35-year police veteran, leans forward
on his desk and pauses. He has directed the 60-officer state agency since 1995,
the year he retired as a captain and 28-year veteran of the New Orleans Police
Department. His NOPD peers gave him a retirement party and said they envied
his rise from the city streets to a "cush" command of the waterfront.
That was before 9/11, of course. Hecker glances to a window
on his right. A cargo ship steams quietly down the Mississippi River toward
the city's revitalized cruise ship terminals -- a locus of local law enforcement
anxiety over terrorism. On the office wall behind Hecker are two post-9/11 photographs
taken at Port of New Orleans functions. In one, the chief shakes hands with
President George W. Bush; the other shows Hecker next to Homeland Security chief
Tom Ridge.
"Well," Hecker says solemnly, "in that case,
our whole department would be gone."
Hecker then invites Officer Glenn J. Smith,
26, a four-year harbor cop, into the discussion. A member of the harbor's three-member
anti-terrorism division and the son of a local port chaplain, Smith was one
of the first peace officers in Louisiana to attend a law enforcement seminar
on weapons of mass destruction after 9/11. He has attended four classes since
then. After a nuclear blast, Smith says, "the main thing is maintaining distance
[from fallout]."
"Our officers will need to think about their
own lives, too," Hecker says.
A nuclear threat is not the only fear, Smith
continues. In the chaotic aftermath of an attack, first-responders might instead
confront chemical or biological weapons agents.
Time is tight, money is short. With war looming
in Iraq, the threat of terrorism feels closer. On Oct. 24, the FBI issued a
national terrorist threat warning of special interest to the port. The agency
cited a recent attack on a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen and information
from al Qaeda detainees. "[Al Qaeda plans to] weaken the petroleum industry
by conducting sea-based attacks against large oil-tankers [that] may be part
of more extensive operations against port facilities ... oil facilities and
nuclear power plants," warned the FBI.
A number of national security reports also
have sounded the alarm for the 301 ports-of-entry in the United States. The
most publicized is the "Hart-Rudman" report, which in September 1999 predicted
a catastrophic terrorist attack on American soil. According to a follow-up report
by the panel, co-chaired by retired U.S. Sens. Gary Hart and Warren Rudman,
much work lies ahead for the nation's seaports: "While 50,000 federal screeners
are being hired by the nation's airports to check passengers, only the tiniest
percentage of containers, ships, trucks and trains that enter the United States
each day are subject to examination, and a weapon of mass destruction could
well be hidden among the cargo."
In an August congressional report titled "Terrorist
Nuclear Attacks on Seaports," defense expert Jonathan Medalia describes such
an attack as a "low-probability but high-consequence" threat: "If terrorists
smuggled a Hiroshima-sized bomb into a port and set it off, the attacks would
destroy buildings out to a mile or two, start fires, [and] especially in a port
that handled petroleum and chemicals spread fallout over many square miles;
and disrupt commerce. It could kill many thousands of people."
For local law enforcement, the question is
stark: is New Orleans prepared for al Qaeda on the port and the river?
"Here in New Orleans, homeland security and
port security are indivisible," says local U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
In the event of a terrorist attack, Letten,
also a 49-year-old commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve intelligence division,
would be in charge of a federalized communications network in southeast Louisiana.
"Port security is of absolute, paramount importance in this district," he says.
"Obviously, the port complex in the Eastern District comprises the Port of New
Orleans, the petrochemical corridor and the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, all
of which are of strategic, military and economic value to the United States.
"Southeast Louisiana is a very target-rich
environment that requires an enormous amount of vigilance to keep free of potential
terrorists. We need to minimize, if not eliminate, ship jumping by foreigners
who could very well pose a threat to national security. ... And the vulnerability
of shipping is certainly no secret."
Letten, who refers to the president as "my
commander-in-chief," commands the federal Anti-Terrorism Task Force (ATTF) for
the federal Eastern District of Louisiana, a 13-parish network of 115 individuals
from 62 governmental agencies ranging from the Nuclear Regulatory Agency to
your local sheriff's office. Two other U.S. attorneys in Louisiana, one in the
Middle District (Baton Rouge) and the other in the Western District (Lafayette),
command ATTFs in their federal court jurisdictions. "We all regularly disseminate
threat information for official use only as we receive it from the FBI ... by
email or fax so that there is no gap in information out there," Letten says.
The two biggest players in terms of port security
in southeast Louisiana are local FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard, Letten says.
"If you're talking about physical port security, I can't imagine a bigger player
than the Coast Guard. If you double the size of the Louisiana Purchase, you
have the Eighth District command of the United States Coast Guard and they are
headquartered here in my building."
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Commander James Duckworth
stands on the back deck of a 41-foot Coast Guard utility boat docked at the
Canal Street ferry landing, the reflection of the river captured in his sunglasses.
"Most people don't know what goes on between the levee tops," he says.
In January, Duckworth, 46, will celebrate
20 years in the nation's smallest armed service. In fact, he's back in uniform
for the largest build-up of the Coast Guard since World War II -- a $17 billion
federal program to upgrade the fleet that will benefit metro area shipyards.
A former marine safety inspector for the Coast Guard river district -- a 250-mile
stretch from Baton Rouge to the mouth of the Mississippi -- Duckworth was working
at the family business in Metairie on Sept. 11, 2001.
"I was selling tires," he recalls. "The phone
rang two days later."
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New Orleans Harbor Chief of Police Robert Hecker with President George W. Bush in a post-9/11 photograph.
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Courtesy of Robert Hecker
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Reactivated, he now rides up the river with
a crew of subordinate "Coasties," most of whom are half his age. "I spent most
of my career conducting vessel inspections in the river, so it made sense to
keep me here," he says.
How does the Coast Guard protect the port
against terrorists? "The river is a huge and complicated place but everyone
talks," he says, confidently. "Mariners talk, shipping agents talk, pilots talk."
Since 9/11, he says, all the major stakeholders
have been working together, including the shipping companies, the stevedoring
companies and the four river pilot associations. The Coast Guard is more closely
tied with other federal agencies than ever before, he says.
Take, for example, the Immigration & Naturalization
Service (INS). "I got a call last night from an INS agent who got a call from
another INS agent in a foreign port. We now have a vessel being boarded in the
Gulf to look for stowaways as we speak." Citing security reasons, he declined
to elaborate.
Some 6,000 vessels pass through the port of
New Orleans each year -- not including hundreds of unchecked barges, officials
say. Effective 9/11, any ship 300 tons or over is required to provide 96-hour
notice before attempting to enter the mouth of the river. "We look for suspicious
individuals and circumstances, such as duplicative crew," Duckworth says. "For
example, 'Why so many electricians?'" The Coasties also ensure the vessel's
paperwork is in order as well as the crew's personal documents.
Checking for terrorists has been added to
a list of duties along with marine safety, drug interdiction and pollution control.
"The misconception is that this is something new for us," Petty Officer Chad
Saylor says of homeland security in the port.
How does terrorism rank among other Coast
Guard priorities? "Our number one priority is the safety of life at sea; but
it's neck and neck with port security," Duckworth says.
The sea marshal program, underway since November
2001, requires two Coasties on certain foreign ships entering the river. "We
want to make sure that ship makes its destination," Duckworth says. He rattles
off a rapid-fire punch list of sample questions for a foreign crew: "'Who is
the suspicious person in the engine room?' 'The pilot said 20-degree right rudder,
Captain. Why hasn't your helmsman made that change?'" Coast Guard vehicles also
patrol river roads between Baton Rouge and Venice, just above the river delta,
he adds.
For a moment, no one talks. The boat hums
up the river. The sun spills on the back deck. "Fighting complacency is my biggest
challenge," Duckworth says. "It's been days, weeks and months now since anything
has happened."
The Coast Guard has a "riverwatch" program
for New Orleans, a waterborne version of a neighborhood watch. And like the
harbor cops, the Coasties are trained in identifying weapons of mass destruction
-- with the help of the Louisiana National Guard, which also provides weekend
security patrols of the cruise ship terminals.
The utility boat passes a 900-foot military
support vessel docked on the West Bank. The commander recites more hypothetical
questions: "'Why is that small boat up on the levee?' ... 'Who is that man signaling
to a vessel?' Jet skis, canoes and rafts: it's all in the river. Everything
has to be looked at."
There is a palpable sense of pride among New
Orleans natives enrolled in wartime port security. In fact, Duckworth recalls
that as a junior at De La Salle High School, he was "initiated" by U.S. Attorney
Letten, then a senior at the Uptown all-boys school. "I'll never forgive him
for it," Duckworth deadpans, recalling his youthful hazing. "But it doesn't
mean we can't work together. We both take this job personally."
At a downtown office building, Coast Guard
Lt. Cdr. Chris Hogan, 40, steps inside a busy room filled with computers and
Coasties. A large board lists vessels "restricted" from sailing in the river
due to deficiencies of crew or equipment, among other factors.
"At any one time, we have 10 vessels restricted
for navigational problems [between Baton Rouge and the river's mouth]," Hogan
says. Since 9/11, he adds, "our overall workload has doubled."
The Coast Guard has made several hundred boardings
outside the 12-mile limit of U.S waters. "We send an armed boarding team aboard
inbound vessels for a licensing check, vessel documentation and verification
of the crew passports and visas," he says. An additional several hundred vessels
have received escorts, including cruise ships.
What of the remaining 5,000 ships that enter
the river each year? Boarding teams apply to vessels within a certain "risk
matrix," Hogan says. "It's trickier for us to board a vessel outside the 12-mile
limit pending inspection," Hogan says. Citing security concerns, he declines
to elaborate on the criteria.
Says Duckworth: "We have a lot of eyes and
ears on the river."
The Coast Guard also shares information with
a national database maintained by the FBI and CIA. "Bad stuff about foreigners,
basically," Hogan says. A marine safety team trained in preventing small boat
assaults and suicide attacks is based in Houston and can report to New Orleans
on 12 hours notice. To commemorate the attacks, the team's four patrol boats
bear the precedent number of "911."
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U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Commander Jimmy Duckworth on patrol in the Mississippi River. 'It's a different world between these levee tops,' he says.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Chad Saylor
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On Dec. 13, 2000, Petty Officer Kyle Niemi,
21, saw firsthand a symbol of the war on terrorism. As a New Orleans-based photographer
for the Coast Guard, he shot pictures of the USS Cole leaving a Pascagoula,
Miss., shipyard after repairs. The Cole had a 40-by-60 foot hole in its side
caused by a suicidal terrorist attack off the coast of Yemen in October 2000.
Seventeen sailors were killed.
Coast guard vessels created a floating security
zone around the ship as it sailed past flag-waving civilians on the shore, on
route to its home port in Norfolk, Va.
"It was good to see the ship patched up,"
Niemi says firmly.
For reasons best known to him,
Kenneth W. Kaiser, the new Special Agent in Charge of the FBI
field office in New Orleans, winces at Jim Letten's description
of Kaiser's job as "chair" of the JTTF for Louisiana.
"I oversee all the investigations for the
FBI in Louisiana, so I don't think 'chair' is the right word," Kaiser, 45, a
native of Evanston, Ill., and second-generation FBI field agent, says.
A 20-year agent and a SWAT team coordinator,
Kaiser has worked in FBI offices here and abroad, handling violent crimes, organized
crime, terrorism matters and diplomatic security. He coordinated FBI assistance
for the Olympic Games in Barcelona and Atlanta, as well as the World Cup soccer
championships in the United States. He moved to New Orleans with his family
in August 2001.
Kaiser knows well that four of the nation's
top 10 ports are in Louisiana; they are under his watch. He declined to say
how many terrorist suspects have been detained in Louisiana since 9/11, but
he cites some general concerns.
"With the oil and gas industry here, with
the ports here, with the cruise ship industry now here, [a terrorist attack]
could be very spectacular, potentially," he says. "We have a large amount of
foreign flag vessels that come in and out of here every year. Those are some
of the scenarios that peak our interest, plus all the special events: Mardi
Gras, Sugar Bowl and Super Bowl."
Meanwhile, fallout from bureaucratic battles
in Washington that have accompanied the nation's largest shuffling of federal
agencies since World War II, ripple out toward the FBI's lakefront headquarters.
Kaiser discounts reports that the FBI has failed to share critical intelligence
with other agencies as not "too founded." Prior to 9/11, state and local access
to FBI intelligence about terrorism -- "unless it was specific to their area"
-- was restricted due to laws governing classified security information.
"Unfortunately, for a 'secret' or 'top secret'
security clearance there is a lot of background work that has to be done," Kaiser
says. "We can't get around that. That's the law." Since 9/11, he says, the bureau
has conducted thousands of security clearances of people in law enforcement,
to give them access to classified information.
Kaiser also dismisses reports of FBI discord
with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). "We meet with the CIA very frequently,"
he says. "We offered them a place to work here, any time they want to come in
the office. They have been over here several times. ... I don't see any problems
in the interaction with CIA, both on the national level and the local level."
But at least one other local federal agency
would like a larger role in local port security. "We are going to be looking
for ways to get into the fight, as I understand it," says James Myles, a special
agent for the Metairie-based office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
"Right now, we are not directly involved. We will help out in any way we can,
but we are going to stay in our area of responsibility."
In response, Kaiser says that the DEA may
have an interest in "some of the terrorist groups in South America that are
dealing in narcotics trafficking, but primarily DEA is not considered in the
intelligence community." That may change, with the recent tapping of DEA Administrator
Asa Hutchinson for a top post in the new Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Security.
Early last year, Kaiser predecessor Charles
Mathews publicly complained that Louisiana led all 56 FBI field offices in public
corruption indictments and convictions. Kaiser states unequivocally that public
corruption will no longer be Public Enemy No. 1 for the Louisiana FBI.
"The number one priority now in the FBI throughout
the country is terrorism or prevention of terrorism," he says. Subsequent priorities:
"counter-intelligence or foreign counter-intelligence, cyber-crime and public
corruption."
Todd Owen, area port director for the U.S.
Customs Service, oversees inspections at five Louisiana ports, from New Orleans
to Lake Charles. He says several post-9/11 changes will enhance port security:
· New regulations require cruise ships
to provide Customs with passenger lists several days before arriving in port,
allowing for more in-depth background checks.
· Since Dec. 2, all vessels carrying
containers or cargo on pallets must provide Customs with a itemized list of
all cargo 24 hours before it is even loaded in a foreign port.
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This Coast Guard special anti-terrorism unit based in Houston can be sent to the Port of New Orleans on 12 hours notice, officials say.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by PA3 Kyle Niemi
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· Customs has hired new inspectors, but
will not disclose the numbers citing security concerns.
· Container ships are now inspected by
Customs in foreign ports to deter the smuggling of weapons of mass destruction
and terrorists.
· New Orleans is one of only 12 seaport
cities to employ the VACIS, a mobile Customs X-ray van used to detect explosives,
weapons and other contraband.
On Feb. 3, when New Orleans hosted Super Bowl
XXXVI, Customs officials say they successfully employed the VACIS scanner for
stadium security screening of incoming trucks. Late last year, unbeknown to
Customs, the Secret Service concealed several dud hand grenades and a stinger
missile in a truck. Alert local inspectors found the devices using the VACIS.
A key Customs concern now is the cruise line
industry. "We always had concerns with cruise liners before 9/11," Owens says,
citing drug smuggling as a primary worry. Now, he calls the floating tourism
industry "a prime terrorist target."
There has not been a successful terrorist
attack on a cruise liner since the bloody high-seas hijacking of the Achille
Lauro in 1985, authorities say. But the concentration of people on a cruise
ship troubles law enforcement. "The twin towers in New York lost 3,000 people
in an attack by two hijacked planes," says Lt. Joseph Labarriere, commander
of the HPD terrorism division. The Carnival line's new $500 million super-cruise
liner Conquest is scheduled to dock weekly at the Julia Street Wharves near
the Riverwalk. "That's 3,900 passengers and 1,600 crew," the lieutenant says,
with a quiet gravity. Carnival officials did not return a call for comment by
presstime.
The crew of the fireboat Gen. Roy S. Kelley,
the HPD's lone vessel for patrolling 24 miles of river, readies for a "terrorism
preparedness" inspection by State Police. Aboard the fireboat, harbor policeman
Smith offers a visitor a seat. His tone is apologetic: "This is the only boat
we have in the river. Our other boat got blown up two years ago." (Cops say
a shrimper's teenage son poured gasoline on the hull of the moored HPD vessel
and set it afire.)
The boat's engines rev up. It motors downriver,
under the Crescent City Connection, to the Julia Street terminals near the Riverwalk
shopping mall. The Kelley's duties include fire fighting, vessel escorts, security
patrols and plucking dead bodies from the river. Today, Smith takes out a pair
of binoculars. His eyes sweep through a forest of pilings under the docks. He
is looking for any unauthorized watercraft or visitors.
The manhole covers that once led underneath
the wharves were welded shut after 9/11, he says.
Chief Hecker says there have been other changes
since the terrorist attacks. Citing security concerns, port officials are working
to close public access to the cruise ship terminals and Uptown wharves, where
an estimated 80 percent of port cargo business takes place. A 50-foot "security
zone" is enforced on the docks for cars; on the river, vessels are barred from
sailing within 100 feet of the wharves.
Hecker says he has prepared a security study
at the Dock Board's request. "I noted $46 million in equipment, personnel and
training that I consider necessary for being a satisfactorily secured port,"
he says. The list includes improved lighting, electronic gates, surveillance
cameras for port access areas, a "swipe card" system linked to the National
Criminal Information Center, two additional boats for the river, additional
personnel and explosive detection equipment. Hecker hopes to have all of the
port security needs funded and in place by early 2004.
Since 9/11, the HPD also has had an officer
working fulltime on terrorism cases at the FBI's joint terrorism task force.
"There's not a week that goes by that we don't get two to three faxes from Jim
Letten's office," Hecker sighs.
Yet another concern are pleasure crafts, which
enter the port from as far away as the Caribbean, sometimes without a working
radio.
One problem the harbor police or its supervising
Dock Board doesn't have is complacency, says Hecker with a smile. "We have a
port director who started Sept. 10, 2001 -- he is very security conscious."
One of the sadder, uncounted casualties of
homeland port security may be innocent ship jumpers. Destitute immigrants who
stow away to make a better life in the United States will likely be greeted
with a more hostile reception than before Sept. 11, 2001.
Officer Smith recalls a recent case of five
ship jumpers from Turkey. Three drowned, two were caught. "They were looking
for opportunities," Smith says. "They showed up here with nothing and just hoped
that someone would help them -- and it's not that way anymore, since 9/11."
