by John M. Broder and Jim Yardley, New York Times
Most Americans will see few signs that the nation has moved to the highest state of alert since the Sept. 11 attacks because state and local police agencies were already strengthening security for the anniversary. Most officials said few changes were planned as a result of the federal decision yesterday to upgrade the terrorism alert level to code orange, the second-highest status.
State and local officials said Attorney General John Ashcroft and Tom Ridge, the director of homeland security, had provided no evidence that the threat of terrorism had increased in the last 48 hours. Existing security measures at border crossings, airports and seaports, power plants, bridges, dams and other potential targets would remain in effect, with marginally increased surveillance by law enforcement, they said.
Several state security directors said the code orange designation was a surprise, particularly because Mr. Ridge conducted a conference call on Monday afternoon in which he said that security levels would probably remain at code yellow, the middle of five color-coded threat conditions.
“This was a development since yesterday,” said Ed Gleason, the Wisconsin director of emergency management.
Mr. Gleason said that Mr. Ridge conducted routine telephone briefings about every other week but that the calls on Monday and Tuesday were unscheduled.
Officials around the country said police staffing levels would be increased for the hundreds of Sept. 11 observances nationwide, but most said those plans were in place before the heightened security alert was announced.
Several states and cities, including Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., had planned to open emergency command centers to speed response to any possible attack. State police staffing in California will be double normal levels, and the Customs Service announced that it would step up inspections of vehicles, passengers, cargo and mail at all border crossings. Customs officials said, however, that the inspections should not produce any additional delays.
Gov. George E. Pataki of New York said yesterday that New York City was already at the equivalent of orange alert status and that he was moving the state government to the same level of protection. But he said he had received “no credible threats, not just against any target in New York City but any target in New York State.”
Mr. Pataki said the state was increasing patrols at Canadian border crossings, tightening security at state health laboratories and increasing surveillance of reservoirs.
“We’ve also expanded presence on bridge and tunnels, hard checkpoints to inspect trucks, roving checkpoints to inspect not just trucks but vehicles on a random basis to make sure that the bridges and tunnels are as secure as they can be,” the governor said.
New York is already under tight watch because of the Jewish High Holy Days, the Congressional special session and the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, he said. “And just as an abundance of precaution, we will be adding additional forces, to do additional patrols, but that has been the case since Labor Day,” Mr. Pataki said.
Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey said he had requested additional National Guard security for the state’s four nuclear power plants, and bridge and tunnel crossings into New York would be under increased surveillance.
“As we approach the anniversary, we are concerned with random acts of violence,” he said in announcing that all New Jersey State Police vacations for today had been canceled.
Gov. John G. Rowland of Connecticut said he had placed the state police on its highest level of alert, T1, at least through tomorrow, allowing troopers to respond to any emergency within an hour. The T1 alert had not been in place since last Sept. 11.
In Tennessee yesterday, Brig. Gen. Wendell Gilbert, director of homeland security for the state, was staging his second “tabletop” war game exercise with other state officials when the news came about the federal security upgrade. Coincidentally, General Gilbert said, the exercise involved plotting a state reaction to a hypothetical security alert.
“While we were in the process of that simulated exercise, the threat condition changed,” he said.
Like officials in other states, General Gilbert participated in the conference call with Mr. Ridge and then instructed his staff in Tennessee to increase security by roughly 10 percent at the various Sept. 11 memorial events in the state.
Security was being heightened at the four Disney theme parks in Orlando, Fla., with additional uniformed and plainclothes officers on duty. Jackquee Polak, a Disney spokeswoman, said, “We are also asking cast members to report promptly any unusual activities.”
In North Carolina, officials had raised security to the equivalent of code orange even before the notice from federal officials. Bryan Beatty, the state’s director of homeland security, said state police officers had been shifted off such duties as traffic patrol to handle the heightened security duties.
Nevada was given no reason to take exceptional security measures, Peter Reinschmidt, emergency operations manager for the state, said. Mr. Reinschmidt said code orange ordinarily meant that people should avoid large gatherings, but officials were encouraging attendance at a variety of memorial services scheduled around the state.
“This is not really condition orange,” Mr. Reinschmidt said. “Mr. Ridge didn’t indicate it was modified, but we can tell it is because it doesn’t adhere to the things spelled out in the condition orange literature they’ve given us.”
Gov. Gray Davis of California said he was doubling California Highway Patrol staffing for today and would work with local law enforcement authorities to increase security at memorial services.
“We know this is troubling and disturbing for people,” Mr. Davis said this afternoon at a news briefing, “but we have an obligation to prepare for the worst but hope for the best.”
In the District of Columbia, Mayor Anthony A. Williams said the district activated a command center a day early to ensure that city officials and federal authorities were working together. But Charles H. Ramsey, Washington’s police chief, said officers would remain on eight-hour shifts, leaves would not be canceled and neighborhood patrols would not be pulled into security duty.
“We are using the resources we have,” Chief Ramsey said.
Other officials in Washington declined to discuss security measures prompted by the latest threat.
“The vast majority of those changes are not visible,” said Marc Connolly, a spokesman for the Secret Service.
Governor Rowland, of Connecticut, urged residents not to let the heightened state of readiness unnerve them or change their routines.
“The best advice I can give anybody is turn the TV off,” he said. “Maybe take a ride to the park with your kids and have lunch.”