by Rebecca Walker — July 13, 2009—NEW YORK—The New York Police Department published a report on July 1 advising managers and developers of high-profile buildings to take more steps to guard against attacks.
The department’s Counter-terrorism Bureau issued the 130-page report that is intended to provide guidelines, which are not legally binding, for existing structures as well as future ones, reported The Associated Press.
The report, “Engineering Security: Protective Design for High Risk Buildings,” assigns the city’s buildings to either low-, medium- or high-risk categories, and provides recommendations for mitigating these risks.
Recommendations in the report cover perimeter security, access control and building design. In terms of perimeter security, the guidelines recommend conducting an analysis to determine the property’s vulnerability to vehicular attack, and constructing an anti-ram barrier that can withstand high impact but does not impede first responders’ access.
For access control, the report recommends that owners of high-risk buildings implement systems that incorporate identity authentication and turnstiles to enforce entry authorization; limit access to critical facilities; conduct background checks on everyone with access to sensitive security information or critical facilities; and install comprehensive closed-circuit television systems, according to the article.
The report doesn’t name the buildings they believe are at highest risk for attacks.
To access the report online, see the New York Police Department’s Web site.
