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.

Article 12 – National Special Security Event (NSSE)

Phil Pulaski has 38 years of law enforcement experience, including more than 33 years with the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Phil Pulaski retired during 2014 as NYPD’s Chief of Detectives, where he successfully managed scores of major investigations including murdered police officers, serial killers, civilian deaths resulting from police action, multiple victim homicides, missing persons, mass casualty incidents and pattern sex assaults. Immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Phil Pulaski led the NYPD’s counterterrorism and intelligence efforts as commanding officer of the FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force, the NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau and the NYPD Intelligence Division.

During the 2006 United Nations General Assembly, Phil Pulaski was responsible for the NYPD dignitary protection program, and managed the dignitary protection detail that included the daily deployment of 1,000 detectives. He was also responsible for planning, risk assessment and security regarding numerous special events in NYC including the US Tennis Open, Major League Baseball Playoff and World Series games, US Navy Fleet Week, New Year’s Eve Times Square event, July 4th Macy’s Fireworks display and large demonstrations and parades. Phil Pulaski worked closely with the FBI, US Secret Service, US Department of State, US Department of Homeland Security, US Department of Defense, US Department of Energy, US Centers for Disease Control and several foreign security services. Phil Pulaski also participated in the management of the September 2004 Republican National Convention in Madison Square Garden, a National Special Security Event (NSSE).

A NSSE is an event of national or international significance deemed by the United States Department of Homeland Security to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activity. These events have included summits of world leaders, meetings of international organizations, presidential nominating conventions and presidential inaugurations. NSSE designation requires federal agencies to provide full cooperation and support to ensure the safety and security of those participating in or otherwise attending the event and the community within which the event takes place. The NSSE designation is typically limited to specified event sites for a specific limited time frame.

The NYPD is the lead local and state agency for NSSEs occurring within New York City and works closely with federal law enforcement, counterterrorism and intelligence agencies. For the federal government, the United States Secret Service is the the lead agency in charge of the planning, coordination, and implementation of security operations for the event. The FBI is responsible for intelligence, counterterrorism and investigation of major criminal activities associated with the event. NSSE designation is not a funding mechanism, and currently there is no specific federal “pot of money” to be distributed to state and local governments within whose jurisdiction an NSSE take place.

US Department of Homeland Security National Incident Management System (Phil Pulaski Crisis and Mass Casualty Event Management experience)

During March 2014, Phil Pulaski retired as Chief of Detectives of the NYPD with more than 33 years of law enforcement experience including 22 years of executive experience managing patrol, investigative, counterterrorism, community affairs and other public safety operations. As Chief Detectives, Phil Pulaski was responsible for more than 3,600 personnel who, during 2013, investigated more than 256,000 felony and misdemeanor crimes (including 335 homicides), and arrested more than 39,000 offenders. Additionally, during Phil Pulaski’s career in the NYPD, he participated in the management of numerous crises and mass casualty incidents including bombings, terrorist attacks, building collapses, aircraft/train/ferry-boat/bus crashes, citywide power outages, explosions, hazardous materials incidents, hostage situations and high-threat apprehensions.

When Phil Pulaski was designated commanding officer of the Counterterrorism Bureau, NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly chose him to lead the NYPD’s crisis management efforts and to bring the NYPD into compliance with the United States (US) National Incident Management System (NIMS). Phil Pulaski was also tasked with writing the NYPD’s 330 page “Citywide Incident Management System” (CIMS) crisis management manual. He also taught 1 day training sessions regarding CIMS and incident management to 800 NYPD command staff personnel in the rank of captain through Assistant Chief.

NIMS is a standardized approach to incident management developed by the US Department of Homeland Security. The program was established in March 2004 in response to Homeland Security Presidential Directive – 5 issued by President George W. Bush on February 28, 2003. NIMS is intended to facilitate coordination between all responders at the scene of a natural or man-made disaster or mass casualty event including terrorist attacks. The NIMS standard crisis management structure is based on 4 key organizational concepts: Incident Command System, Emergency Operations Center, Multiagency Coordination Group and Joint Information Management System.

Pace Law School

Phil Pulaski served in the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for more than 33 years, and retired as Chief of Detectives where he was responsible for 3,600 personnel. He was sworn in as an NYPD Police Officer in September 1980 after he earned a Juris Doctor degree from St. John’s University School of Law at night and passed the New York State Bar Exam. Following his retirement from the NYPD, Phil Pulaski received a Master of Laws (LLM) advanced law degree from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law School. While studying for his LLM degree, he maintained a 4.0 GPA and graduated summa cum laude. Additionally, Phil Pulaski is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Recently, Phil Pulaski became an adjunct professor of law at Pace University Law School and will teach an advanced criminal law seminar in the Spring 2021 semester.

Located 20 miles north of the heart of New York City, the hallmarks of Pace include experiential learning, faculty mentoring, rigorous skills training and cutting edge world class programs. The majority of classes have 19 students, which enables close faculty-student relationships. In May 2016, Pace University Law School was renamed in honor of Elisabeth Haub who was a tireless environmental advocate and philanthropist.
The Haub Family gave a significant financial gift to the Law School, the largest that Pace University has received in its history. The Haub family gift was used to establish an endowment that strengthens the school’s renowned environmental law program and funds innovative teaching initiatives. The gift continues to build upon Elisabeth Haub’s extraordinary legacy of promoting the progress of environmental law, with particular emphasis on activities that impact policy, promote a balanced approach to sustainable growth and reflect the global nature of environmental issues.