Phil Pulaski – WTC Attack

Phil Pulaski has 41 years of law enforcement experience and was the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Chief of Detectives where he was responsible for 3,600 personnel. During his more than 33 years serving with the NYPD, Phil Pulaski managed patrol, investigative, counterterrorism and other public safety operations.

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Phil Pulaski managed the NYPD’s counterterrorism and weapons of mass destruction operations. He also supervised jointly with his FBI counterpart numerous terrorism related investigations including the 9-11 World Trade Center attack and October 2001 anthrax attacks. Phil Pulaski also was responsible for NYPD’s intelligence collection and analysis operations as well as the critical infrastructure risk assessment and security programs. Due to the outstanding efforts of JTTF and Intelligence Division personnel, several serious terrorist attacks on NYC were prevented.

It has been 20 years since September 11, 2001, when four commercial airliners traveling from the northeastern United States to California were hijacked shortly after take-off by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists. The al-Qaeda terrorists were organized into three groups of five hijackers and one group of four hijackers. Each group had one hijacker who had received flight training and took over control of the aircraft from the murdered airline pilots. Their explicit goal was to crash each plane into a prominent American building, causing mass casualties and the destruction of the targeted buildings. Two of the planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and a third hit the west side of the Pentagon in Arlington Virginia. There is strong evidence that the fourth plane was intended to crash into either the US Capitol building or the White House in Washington DC. However, due to the incredible bravery and tenacity of the passengers, the hijackers were overcome and the plane was intentionally crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

NYPD Response to the Oklahoma City Bombing

Phil Pulaski

Phil Pulaski has 36 years of law enforcement experience, and was Chief of Detectives of the NYPD for more than 5 years where he was responsible for 3,600 personnel. During his more than 33 year career with the NYPD, Phil Pulaski managed patrol, investigative, counterterrorism, community affairs, quality of life, traffic and other public safety operations. Phil Pulaski is currently serving as a sworn member of the command staff of the Miami Beach PD, and is managing the Criminal Investigations Section. In addition to conducting major crime investigations, his team is developing national standards for the use of RAPID DNA technology by crime scene technicians to expeditiously produce investigative leads.

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Phil Pulaski managed the NYPD’s counterterrorism and weapons of mass destruction operations. He also supervised, together with his FBI counterpart, numerous terrorism related investigations including the 9-11 World Trade Center attack and October 2001 anthrax attacks. Phil Pulaski possess 20 years of bomb operations experience; and, managed numerous post and pre blast operations including the Times Square attempted terrorist bombing on May 1, 2010 and NYC subway terrorist planned bombing on July 31, 1997. Additionally, he was trained by the FBI to manage incidents involving nuclear improvised explosive devices and has noteworthy experience regarding NIED operations.

The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bomb attack that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at 9:02 AM on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the bombing killed 168 people and injured more than 680 others. The blast destroyed or damaged 570 other buildings within a 16-block radius, destroyed 86 cars, and caused an estimated $652 million worth of damage. Until the international terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, and remains the deadliest incident of domestic terrorism in United States history.

Immediately after the Oklahoma City bombing occurred, Phil Pulaski led a team of NYPD investigators who responded to Oklahoma City at the request of the FBI. The investigative team arrived shortly before 12 AM on April 20, 1995, and during the next 2 weeks worked closely with the FBI, BATF, Oklahoma City PD, and law enforcement personnel from around the country. Phil Pulaski’s initial NYPD team was composed of Bomb Squad technicians and Crime Scene investigators. Subsequently, NYPD Emergency Service officers joined the team. Additionally, his team coordinated with members of the FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force and several additional NYPD investigators who responded as members of other federal/NYPD Task Forces. Phil Pulaski worked with the FBI On-Scene Commander’s leadership team that managed this complex investigation to ensure leads were thoroughly investigated and evidence was properly processed.

All responding law enforcement officers, firefighters and other operational and support personnel worked seamlessly to ensure a thorough investigation of the bombing and successful prosecution of the perpetrators.

The NYPD’s Commitment to Counterterrorism

NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau
Image: nyc.gov

Phil Pulaski has 36 years of law enforcement experience, and was Chief of Detectives of the NYPD for more than 5 years where he was responsible for 3,600 personnel. During his 33 year career with the NYPD, Phil Pulaski managed patrol, investigative, counterterrorism, community affairs, quality of life, traffic and other public safety operations. In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Phil Pulaski managed the NYPD’s counterterrorism and weapons of mass destruction operations. He also supervised, together with his FBI counterpart, numerous terrorism related investigations including the 9-11 World Trade Center attack and October 2001 anthrax attacks. Phil Pulaski also was responsible for the NYPD programs involving (i) human and electronic intelligence collection operations; (ii) intelligence processing, analysis, and dissemination; (iii) counterterrorism technology evaluation; (iv) critical infrastructure risk assessment and protection; and (v) counterterrorism training.

The NYPD is America’s largest police department, with 53,000 employees and a $4 billion operating budget. NYPD police officers have brought crime in New York City to an all-time low. In addition to crime fighting, the NYPD must be constantly vigilant to protect New York City from terrorist attacks. Consequently, significant department resources are committed to fighting terrorism.

Terrorism has evolved since 2001, and after the Paris attacks by ISIS in 2015, the NYPD created the anti-terrorism Critical Response Group unit. The 500-plus officers of the unit are working to uncover a range of terrorist attacks that could use anything from knives to trucks to bombs or biological weapons. The NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau, includes the Joint Terrorism Task Force, an innovative partnership between the NYPD and the FBI to improve terrorism detection and prevention. The department also created several specialized groups to focus on the many faces of terrorism. Each group implements different counterterrorism programs including emergency preparedness, public safety, harbor security, and weapons of mass destruction countermeasures.