Update at 11:00 a.m. — Arlington Police Chief M. Douglas Scott has issued a statement about the terror treat.
The Arlington County Police Department is aware of a new terror threat that U.S. officials are calling specific and credible, but so far the department has not taken any action in response.
NBC News is reporting that police in New York and D.C. have been alerted to a “specific, credible” but unconfirmed threat connected to this weekend’s 9/11 anniversary. The threat, obtained by U.S. intelligence, could involve truck or car bombs in either city, according to news reports. D.C. police officers have been told that they may have to stay on duty longer as a result, NBC’s Pete Williams reported tonight.
ACPD spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal says that the department expects to be told more about the threat tomorrow and will decide then on what action, if any, to take.
“Nothing has changed in terms of how we’re operating at this point,” she said.
Nosal added that Arlington police do have extra SWAT patrols around the county, but that the patrols are stepped up around this time every year for the 9/11 anniversary.
Arlington County is holding a special 9/11 commemoration at the Air Force Memorial on Saturday night
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Arl now I cannot say how important you are to my knowledge of what goes on in the area. You are a valuable resource. Thanks.
That done……what do they mean not taking any action? Do they really think that Arlington really isn’t as much as a target given the celebrations that will be happening here in the next few days! I am very disappointed.
It’s a developing situation and they’re waiting until the morning, when more information may be available about the threat.
Hi Chris – Don’t be disappointed. I read this as nothing has changed. Arlington police are already on high alert due to 10th anniversary and Bin Laden papers found where he wanted another big attack this Sept. So learning now someone MAYBE trying something, does not change their game plan since they were already geared up with extra SWAT teams and other activities for that very reason. I have no doubt local police agencies are working overtime right now. Keep the faith.
Jon, thanks. I did not know that Arlington was already on a higher alert status. I do understand that this may end up being something untruthful, but I still expected some additional caution, just in case.
While in New York today, the ground zero block had a massive police force out. Broadway past Church had checkpoints setup and foot cops were everywhere. What does that have to do with Arlington? It’s probably likely our own police force are out in force and prepared to respond quickly we just don’t notice. I say that in a hopeful voice though.
Straight out of the George W. playbook.
In a political mess, trot out the terrorists. Ooooooo boogie man gonna get us.
Don’t you guys ever get tired of using the same old high school political analysis?
ACPD operates only in reactive mode. Waiting until tomorrow to be told what to do is unacceptable. Arlington is not like “other places” and we can not do LESS than other places.
Does anyone remember Awais Younis? How about Farooque Ahmed? Did ACPD come up on the net and say, “Our community policing effort has revealed chatter about a local plot…”
Or did the feds have to swoop down from the 1:100,000 level?
I was about to joke about how Kev probably has some community policing angle on this, but he pulled through and actually had one. You can’t out-Kev Kev.
Nope, especially not when he’s right.
I don’t know if he’s right or not, I’ll wait until we unravel what he was trying to say.
They can’t unravel a terror plot from behind the glass, with the AC blasting. They don’t even know the people in the communities they’re responsible for. They have no relationship, and they rely on national level assets to feed them instead of the other way around.
If terror were to strike, the best we could hope for would be that an associated vehicle was parked illegally. If not, I am confident in the individual officers ability to react (which hopefully won’t just be limited to chalking bodies and taking pics). It’s the leadership that has failed, and needs to be replaced.
Good point Kev. I bet the highest-risk location for an (inadvertent) attack might be the Advanced Towing parking lot. Think about it – they’re more likely to tow a suspicious vehicle than ACPD is to inspect it.
Shhhhh… that’s part of the secret plan!
Advanced Towing isn’t supposed to know it, but they are to consolidate all vehicle-borne IEDs in their lot prior to detonation.
(Another example of contractors leading from the front!)
I so totally agree…. They can’t even catch a serial un-armed bank robber with a full description and established MO.
The world is full of armchair quarterbacks.
I know, right? And they’re SUCH prima donnas!
I’m bored.
Just to shake things up, I’m gonna go Joe Theisman on his ass. LT is my hero.
Oh yea, I remember Farooque Ahmed. He’s the guy the FBI asked to bomb the metro, then arrested him for planning to bomb the metro. Then the FBI patted themselves on the back for arresting a guy that was planning on bombing the metro.
Yeah, sure, whatever you say.
Let’s share a hi-five together, in honor of people deluding themselves… what do you say?
Or you could just clap your hands.
No love?
Damn it, Mehoo… I was going to invite you to share this Pete’s Apizza Groupon tonight. It expires Monday and I’m away all weekend!
So…weren’t you the one who once argued that the Metro bombing threat was real, and now you’re saying you agree with OX4 that it was nothing but some kind of entrapment by the FBI? Make up your mind.
The Pete’s offer is tempting, but I’m going out of town too because I’m terrified there will be a terrorist attack. I might drop by FedEx Field though.
No… I agree with you, hence the hi-five.
I’m hearing that ACPD was patrolling Metro stations and bridges this morning, but can’t get the department to confirm it.
Yes. I can confirm. They had cars parked practically blocking the entrances to Clarendon and Court House. Officers were inside said cars reading the newspaper and generally ignoring their surroundings. I’m sure the mere presence of those cops was all the deterrance those boogeymen needed to be scared off. Go get em ACPD.
“Officers were inside said cars reading the newspaper and generally ignoring their surroundings.”
Not surprised at all. It’s raining. You can’t get them to go eyeball-to-eyeball on the most beautiful day, so why would they start now with doing the right thing?
Oh yeah, the threat of a major terror event… guess that’s not much of an inspiration?? These people are not being adequately motivated by their leadership.
Yeah, that’s it. The cops are lazy, and you know this because you are out there watching them. You’re not sitting at a desk yourself, Kev.
I know because I live in the community… and I never said that cops were lazy- only that their leadership is failing them.
The leaders ordered them to stay in their cars and read the paper?
I can confirm this as well. I saw one cop car literally circling the entrance to Clarendon in their car.
There were three ACPD and one Metro Transit Police cars parked all around the Virgina Square Metro this morning. Definitely a show of force going on.
And we’re actors in the [security] theater.
Yes, either there is no threat, or the security measures are all useless. You pick which pointless cynical pseudo-hip smarter-than-the-cowering-masses theme you’re working with.
Fedex is going to be a major pain in the ass Sunday. Glad I’m not going to this one.
I wouldn’t go anywhere near a NFL stadium this Sunday. What better target than 80-100,000 people in a dozen plus stadums that are all going to be there at the same time? You could pick off nearly a million people with the properly orchestrated plot. Let’s just hope these buffoons aren’t organized enough to take out an ant hill.
Staying afraid is letting the terrorists win. Very weak.
I don’t want the criminals to win either, but that doesn’t mean I’d walk through Anacostia at 3 am.
I’m hardly afraid. I’m just careful. Besides, you could not pay me enough money to go to FedEx for a Skins game on any day, much less the 10th Anniversary of September 11. I stopped being a fan once Dan Snyder demonstrated his being. Plus, FedEx is a traffic/parking/time nightmare and I’m not going there to watch the boring lame Skins.
ACPD knows what they are doing. They are dealing with this terrorist threat on 9/11.
Don’t second guess ACPD, these guys are good and are protecting us. Help them by reporting any unusual activity.
Let ACPD handle this. The do a good job.
If only K-Kev were Chief of Police, we could all sleep so much more soundly… Clearly, he is an unquestionable expert on all matters with a wealth of unmatched experience! Nary an event can pass without his concise summarization of how the police or anyone else are clearly f-ups not performing to his standards. His proof of all is the presence of homeless people (aka “bums”) in an urban area adjacent to the nation’s capitol. Truly, he is an Army of One. Just ask him to opine some more if you doubt.