Danger Down Below: “Terrorist Cop” Mordecai Dzikansky goes Underground for Safety Tips on NYC Subways
Chasing News | April 8, 2016
The March 22 terror attacks on Brussels, Belgium, focused on two apparent soft targets to cause death and mayhem: the airport ticketing counter and the city’s subway system.
Chasing News previously examined security vulnerabilities at New York area airports. Now, the story goes underground.
Any mass transit is a tempting target for terrorist bombs, but subways up the ante because the confined space constricts amplifies the devastating power of an explosion, said Brian Michael Jenkins, a former Green Beret who is senior adviser to the president of the RAND Corp. He used Brussels as an example.
“Two bombs went off at the airport, one bomb went off at the Metro station, on the train,” Jenkins said. “That one bomb killed twice as many people as the two bombs at the airport.”
For an on-the-ground view, retired NYPD detective Mordecai Dzikansky went down into the New York City subways to advise on what to do in case of terror.
Dzikansky has a unique vantage point: Brooklyn born, he was a homicide detective on 9/11. The commissioner decided to send him to Israel as one of the department’s first detectives to be stationed overseas, gathering intelligence from a country often rocked by terrorism and seeing if it connects back to New York.
Dzikansky, who wrote the book Terrorist Cop based on his police and overseas experience as well as a textbook for law enforcement to learn about suicide bombings, has simple rules that will help New Yorkers remain vigilant for terror, as he says Israelis are. Yet it is important not to cross over into paranoia, Dzikansky said, comparing the threat of terror in the US to the possibility of a major earthquake to a California homeowner.
“You build a beautiful house in California, you also have earthquake insurance, you’ll have a plan with your family of what to do if God forbid something does happen, you’ll also fortify your location and you’ll be aware of what’s going on,” Dzikansky said. The same thing with terrorism. You cannot change your life. Live your life. But be aware it’s out there.
More on Mordecai Dzikansky:
- Felice Friedson’s Interview: Mordecai Dzikansky — “Terrorist Cop”
- The Phenomenon of Suicide Bombings in Israel by Mordecai Dzikansky
- Morrow Jensen’s Book Review of Terrorist Suicide Bombings: Attack Interdiction, Mitigation, and Response by Mordecai Dzikansky, Gil Kleinman & Robert Slater
- Adina Kutnicki’s Book Review of Terrorist Cop by Detective Mordecai Dzikansky and Robert Slater!
