BUFFALO, N.Y. — Western New York's position on the regional waterfront of the Great Lakes makes it a great summertime location.
But this past week we may have seen indications that for some in the military and law enforcement it may also present a greater risk for terrorism.
2 On Your Side decided to take a closer look with the experienced eye of a retired U.S. Homeland Security agent.
There was some rather dramatic rope ladder training Wednesday at the Buffalo River. The Erie County Sheriff's Office said it was a multi-agency maritime training exercise set up by state homeland security.
We actually saw some SWAT members climbing from a patrol boat up the side of the Naval Park's USS Little Rock ship. The Sheriff SWAT Deputies, Bomb Squad, Buffalo and Rochester police departments, state police, state environmental conservation officers, FBI, border patrol agents, and others took part.
It looked unusual for us, but Hilbert College professor Steve MacMartin, who is a retired U.S. Homeland Security agent, told us: "Something they don't normally do, which is boarding vessels and then clearing vessels. Clearing a vessel ( for potential suspects or terrorists) is much different than clearing a residence, something that would probably never be practiced, and so it was done."
What we realize in a post-9/11 world is that our regional border security has been stepped up in so many ways. Even on the land borders where a truck carried bombs crossing the border bridges could be more of a threat for counterterrorism experts.
That is why specialized scanning devices at customs inspection booths on the bridge plazas actually check some trucks. MacMartin explained, "Radiological detectors for detecting radiation."
He added: "People don't realize how porous the borders are. One specific instance of training like this — again, it's multi-jurisdictional — (is to) familiarize with everybody else on tactics, but this stuff is going on all the time."
Actually a 2017 Army War College Report from a Coast Guard Officer raises very scary scenarios for weapons of mass destruction like a small nuclear bomb as a maritime or waterfront threat.
That report notes that Great Lakes high population areas including Buffalo with their proximity for commercial vessels do make them "valuable targets."
The report also concludes the US Government should set up joint federal, state, and local training for SWAT close quarters combat training on high sided commercial vessels that could pose a threat.
MacMartin feels that maritime threat is overblown as most big laker ships, especially with containers which could have a bomb inside, usually bypass Buffalo. But on the other had he points out "Maybe the Erie County Sheriff's SWAT Team has never practiced ( ship boarding and clearing), but another agency has so they can say, 'Look, this is how you'll do it.' "
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