Cops protect Florida harbor from terrorists.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold
• Position: Domestic Threats

The go-fast boat came roaring around the bend of the harbor in Tampa, Fla., followed quickly by a high-speed pursuit boat from the city police department's marine unit. Bullets were flying from both craft.

A policeman fell into the cold water. Within minutes, a U.S. Coast Guard HH-60J Jayhawk helicopter--from the air station in nearby Clearwater--swept onto the scene, and dropped a rescue diver into the water.

Meanwhile, the police boat overtook the go-fast vessel, and heavily armed, black-clad members of the police tactical-response team overwhelmed the go-fast's crewmembers and took them ashore to be screened for evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

This was all a demonstration, staged for a conference on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense, attended by senior Defense Department and industry officials.

The intent was to show how a local law-enforcement agency can work with U.S. military services and other federal agencies to frustrate a terrorist attack.

Chris Reynolds, a local fire and rescue battalion chief, paramedic and major in the Air Force Reserve, explained the scenario: "Special Forces in Iraq have confiscated a laptop computer from a high-value target. It contains intelligence that the Port of Tampa has been targeted for a WMD attack."

A Panama-flagged freighter, suspected of smuggling WMD, has been tracked from "a country of interest," and is entering Tampa Bay, he said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's joint terrorism task force is mobilized, the president and the homeland security secretary are briefed, and the secretary directs the Coast Guard to assist civilian authorities.

The exercise highlights the fact that Tampa--the seventh largest port in the United States--is a particularly attractive target for a terrorist attack, Reynolds noted.

The city also is home to two major military commands likely to be on any terrorist hit list. The Special Operations Command is playing a leading role in the global war on terror, and the U.S. Central Command is directing the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both are based at MacDill Air Force Base. MacDill is located at the end of a peninsula in the bay, where access can be controlled tightly. In recent years, city and base officials have signed a series of memoranda of understanding calling for increased cooperation, especially in the area of security. The police department is permitted to use a MacDill small-arms range for training, and the...