Monday, September 09, 2002

By KAREN DEMASTERS

Sirius, a loyal police dog, was waiting for his handler in a basement level of the World Trade Center last Sept. 11 when it collapsed and he became the only law enforcement dog that was a casualty in the twin towers.

The fact that the dog, which was known for his oversized head and inquisitive stare, was unable to escape illustrated one of the many lessons learned that day by police officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

“Movement was a key,” said Anthony R. Whitaker, who is now an assistant chief working in Jersey City but was then captain in charge of the police at the towers that horrible morning.

“I was standing at my usual corner in front of the Banana Republic on the mall level and I heard a noise that I dismissed at first. Then I noticed some of my regulars who I say good morning to every day were not coming by. The mall entrance doors blew open and a giant fireball blew out and I saw people floating in that fireball. I don’t know how that was possible, but I saw it,” Whitaker recounted from the safety of his office where he has World Trade Center pictures adorning the walls.

“I smelled jet fuel and I knew I had to move. That’s all I knew. I had experienced jet fuel fires at the airports during training and I knew movement was the key. Anyone who stood still was dead,” the assistant chief said.

“I was knocked out for awhile and then everything was black and I was trying to walk and I was stepping on things. I realized I was stepping on bodies. I still don’t remember a lot of it,” he said.

In addition to confirming that quick action was a key to survival, Whitaker said he learned that cross training for police officers is vital. His training at the airport enabled him to recognize the smell of jet fuel and he reacted automatically to get himself and others out, even if that meant going down to basement levels of the towers before trying to emerge on the street.

Thirty-seven Port Authority police officers lost their lives Sept. 11, including many high-ranking officers. A total of 72 law enforcement officers lost their lives that day. In addition to Port Authority police, 23 New York City police officers were killed, as well as members of the FBI and CIA, and officers from the New York State Office of Tax Enforcement, the New York State Office of Court Administration and the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife office.

Whitaker, who is one of several officers promoted after the attacks. Superintendent Charles D. DeRienzo, who came over from the New York City Police Department and New York State Insurance Frauds Bureau to become chief of the department shortly after the attacks, are now trying to apply what they and others learned that day.

“I want to take a good department and fine tune it to make it even better,” DeRienzo said. “My sense is that many things were done right that day – 25,000 people were safely evacuated.

“I have 37 years of law enforcement experience and to have my own police department now is exciting,” he added. Helping officers deal with the effects of that day is one of his many new tasks.

“I talked to a lieutenant just yesterday,” he said recently. “He was directing people out of the towers. Some he sent one way and some he sent another. He has to live with that for the rest of his life,” said DeRienzo, leaving unsaid the obvious fact that some of those people were unknowingly directed to their deaths.

“But we have to get through it. That lieutenant has to get on with his life.”

Most of the officers are coping and have returned to work. Most of those who were at the trade center have been reassigned. The World Trade Center site is still owned by Port Authority so some police officers are assigned to “the bathtub,” the huge hole left by the cleanup, to make sure it is secure.

“We have spoken to people involved in the Oklahoma City bombing and we have excellent counselors,” the new chief said. “We have asked everyone to keep an eye on each other and we have brought the spouses in to tell them what to watch for and we have alerted supervisors. The officers have to know that it is okay not to be able to cope.”

Questioned about how people can handle coming to work every day, especially on the anniversary of the attacks, Whitaker and DeRienzo were practical.

“We’re all hurting, but you lead by example,” Whitaker said. “I know how they feel because I am going through it myself. It took a long time before I didn’t flinch every time a plane went over.”

DeRienzo added, “We have to come to work everyday. We have airports and bridges to protect, but no one can be allowed to forget what happened that day.

“It is important to remember because it shows a side of mankind that we cannot forget exists,” said DeRienzo, who lost a nephew in the attack. The new chief, who watched the World Trade Center towers being built when he was a patrolman walking a beat in lower Manhattan, now has two sons on the New York City police force.

“We are not going to change anything in the department on a grand scale, but a new deputy superintendent for training has been created. The hierarchy of the force was decimated that day but people have stepped forward to fill the ranks,” he added. The force, which stood at 1,300 before the attacks, is being beefed up to 1,500 to accommodate new duties and additional security tasks.

“These people attacked us in ’93 and they had it in their minds then to do it again. They are patient and persistent. We can never let our guard down as we are doing our everyday work,” the chief said.

Whitaker now speaks to groups telling them what is needed in these changed times. In addition to putting officers into all types of situations during training, the different departments, fire fighters, local and state police and Port Authority police, have to train together so that each knows what the other will do ahead of time.

“Terrorism is here to stay; the only question is whether we will have the resolve to fight it,” said Whitaker, who still does not know how many of the people he regularly greeted each workday morning made it out alive because he only knew their faces, not their names.

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