THE FUTURE

Public now faces tighter security

By Joseph P. Kahn, Globe Staff, 9/12/2001

With the US increasing security across the country, FBI agents as well as law enforcement was visible, especially around New York City and Washingt on D.C. (AP PHOTO)

s the shock of yesterday's alleged terrorist attack settles in, one unavoidable consequence will be heightened security at all sorts of public facilities, from airports to government office buildings.

That is a price most Americans are willing to pay to feel safer, according to security specialists and others interviewed yesterday, even if the sense of security these measures provide turns out to be transitory or even illusory.

''I guarantee you that no building in the country will do business the same way tomorrow that they did business yesterday,'' said FleetCenter president Richard Krezwick, who spent much of the day reassessing security procedures at his arena and in the adjoining MBTA commuter rail station. ''My first reaction was wanting to be with my kids, to be honest. But you think about an event like this differently when you're responsible for 18,000 lives a night.''

Among the steps being considered, Krezwick said, are beefing up security at points of entry into the arena and refocusing the Fleet's surveillance cameras to ensure they're providing the necessary coverage. Still, he added: ''There's a reasonableness that needs to enter into the decision-making process. You don't want to make someone holding a $60 ticket stand in line for 35 minutes, just as you don't want an exit door to suddenly turn into an entry door.''

A similar balancing act is in store for the nation. The tragedy was a watershed event, a ''wake-up call,'' as one security expert put it, ''that is everybody's nightmare.''

Passengers will wait longer for clearance to board commercial airline flights - if and when they feel comfortable flying at all. US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta pledged that the government would authorize intensified surveillance measures and more random searches in airports.

''Travelers will indeed see increased security measures at our airports, train stations, and other key sites,'' Mineta said at the White House. ''We will restore our national transportation system to a safe and efficient status as quickly as possible.''

Similarly, workers in government buildings and office towers will almost certainly encounter new layers of security, from the parking garage to the penthouse suite. Parents dropping off their toddlers at supposedly safe facilities like the North Shore Jewish Community Center in Marblehead will have their ID cards checked and double-checked. A few harried moms and dads might have been waved through on busy mornings past. Not tomorrow, JCC officials said.

''You want as much as possible that life goes on, to give the kids a sense of security,'' said JCC executive director Sandy Sheckman, whose staff spent much of yesterday fielding anguished calls from nervous parents. ''But in some sense, our whole world has been overturned.''

Where exactly do we go from here? Michael Taylor, director of American International Security Corp., a personal and corporate security firm based in Boston, said one guide to future security measures may be glimpsed in the response to past events like the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, events that also shattered the nation's sense of security and led to unprecedented security measures.

''Law enforcement will have a much greater presence, at least in the short term,'' said Taylor, a former Green Beret who helped write a vulnerability assessment for the New York Port Authority after the Trade Center bombing. ''People may also be personally concerned about gathering in tall buildings or visiting large cities. It's natural. After all, they just watched some of the nation's landmark buildings collapse on national TV.''

Taylor's advice? ''Don't get irritated by things like flight delays and bag-checking procedures,'' he said.

Turahn Dorsey, a senior analyst at Abt Associates in Cambridge, travels frequently and regularly calls on clients in federal and state government buildings. He said the impact on his firm will be huge. A moratorium on overseas travel was quickly posted yesterday.

''On a personal level, I'm not sure what precautions I can take,'' Dorsey said. ''I'm more concerned about what precautions others take. If things don't look different than they have in the past'' in terms of airport security ''then I probably will be worried. But an attack like the one on the Pentagon, I'm not sure how you can prevent that anyway.''

Raymond Elman, a corporate consultant with Bridgeline Inc. in Waltham, said: ''Maybe because I grew up in the duck-and-cover Atomic Age, I'm pretty fatalistic about things like this. I don't worry about death from some unforseen catastrophe. What I'm more concerned about - assuming an event like this doesn't happen again - are the consequences. I fly a lot, so I'm wondering what level they'll ratchet security up to.''

He's not alone in his concerns. According to Al Forgione, director of the Institute of Psychology for Air Travel, there are two types of people: those who easily give up control to others and those who don't. And what happened yesterday, he said, ''goes right to the heart of a person's sense of security.''

The loss-of-control theme raised by Forgione was echoed strongly by Boston College psychology professor Joe Tecce, who said such ''Jack-in-the-box violence'' - which seems to pop up out of nowhere - makes everyone feel particularly stressed.

''Right now people are in shock, like they were after the JFK assassination,'' Tecce said. ''That will give way to anger, guilt, and finger pointing. But the permanent changes will probably come at the higher policy levels. I don't think those of us in the trenches can afford to stress too much about this.''

When a relatively minor inconvenience like 10-digit telephone dialing became standard practice, Tecce noted, people complained loudly. Now most of us barely notice the difference.

''It's the same with things like airport security,'' Tecce said. ''Whatever extra inconvenience it causes will be acceptable. People first and foremost search for survival, and anything that promotes survival is acceptable. Whether it's uncomfortable or not.''

One safe bet? At least in the short term, it will be.

This story ran on page A19 of the Boston Globe on 9/12/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.