Posted on: Wednesday, October 31, 2001

The September 11th attack
Honolulu police say you'll be first to know

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Honolulu police want residents to remain calm following the second FBI terrorist alert this month and assured the community that authorities would warn them about a possible attack targeting Hawai'i.

Monday's FBI alert — the second since Oct. 11 — said an attack could come this week.

A high-ranking Honolulu Police Department official said yesterday that he could not elaborate on the FBI alert, but gave assurances that if there were an impending attack targeting Hawai'i, police would not keep it a secret.

Assistant Chief Boisse Correa said: "Our job is to make sure that you're safe. We cannot hold back information that would jeopardize the community. If something is happening and you need to know about it, and it means the safety and well being of our community, we will let you know."

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Mainland, Honolulu police beefed up security at important buildings and events, trained officers in bioterrorism and created an anti-terrorist section called the Emergency Management Command, Correa said.

Correa also said the department has begun training specialized officers to meet assignments that could involve use of chemical suits and dealing with bombs, armed attacks and deadly force. In time, all officers will be trained, he said.

He said there were no confirmed reports of anthrax contamination on O'ahu. Police have responded to 290 anthrax-related calls since Sept. 11 — all false alarms.

As for HPD's terrorism hot line, the department has been averaging about eight or nine calls per day, and officers have been checking on each, Correa said, but in no case has HPD been "profiling" people.

"What we do is follow up on all the information as it comes in," Correa said of the hot line at 225-5473.