To Read More About How Governor Pataki’s Leadership Has Helped Make New York State Safer, please choose: Making New York a National Leader in Crime Reduction

Protecting New York by Fighting Terrorism and Providing Homeland Security

Just six days after September 11th, Governor Pataki brought together New York’s legislators and together they enacted the toughest and most comprehensive package of anti-terrorism laws in the nation.

• Establishing six new penal law offenses for persons who commit terrorist acts, make terrorist threats, solicit or provide material support for terrorist acts or hinder the prosecution of terrorists.
  
  
• Greatly enhancing penalties for those who falsely report an incident or place a false bomb in a sports arena, mass transportation facility, enclosed shopping mall, and other public places and public buildings.

• Governor Pataki created the Office of Public Security to coordinate the activities of all State agencies in responding to terrorist threats, naming former FBI Assistant Director, James Kallstrom, as the first head of this important homeland security team.
  
  
• To protect New Yorkers, Governor Pataki and the Director of the Office of Public Security coordinated all facets of an aggressive anti-terrorism campaign.
  
  
• Under the Governor’s direction, the full resources of the State were deployed to protect New York's water supplies, bridges, tunnels, communications and transportation centers and other sensitive locations.
  
  
• Also, Governor Pataki issued an Executive Order permitting recently retired State Troopers and Investigators to return to active duty to quickly increase the number of troopers available for Homeland Security.
  
  
• Under Governor Pataki’s leadership, the National Guard has been deployed more than 30 times. They've responded to ice and snowstorms, forest fires and airline disasters. On September 11th, they once again responded quickly and heroically –in the largest sustained deployment of the Guard since the beginning of World War II.
  
  
• Governor Pataki unveiled a comprehensive plan to dramatically improve security at New York airports, including new legislation to expand criminal background checks for airport employees and new security measures at JFK and LaGuardia.
  
  
• Governor Pataki appointed James Lee Witt, former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct an immediate, independent and public review of the safety procedures for communities surrounding nuclear power plants serving New York State.