NEW YORK—The response to a false alarm that caused a panicked evacuation of Kennedy Airport during the summer was plagued by poor co-ordination and communication among police, private security and other personnel, according to a review by a team of top security officials. A letter from the officials to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Homeland Security Secretary Jeb Johnson, made public on Monday, blamed both airport employees and law enforcement for fuelling the hysteria by overreacting to several mistaken reports of gunshots, instead of seeking to calm travellers. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, “the spectre of terrorism has embedded itself in the national psyche and created a persistent, abiding tension that cannot be ignored,” the letter concluded. “Coordination and training ... is absolutely fundamental to properly address this new paradigm.”Cuomo ordered the review after the Aug. 14 incident raised questions about the ability of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, to respond to an actual terror attack.

Source: thestar November 21, 2016 22:55 UTC