“We’re going to use whatever technology is available to keep the people of the city safe,” said Police Commissioner O’Neill.

h. nazan ışık—

20 September 2016—

On Saturday, 17 September a bomb exploded after 20:30 on 23^rd street in Chelsea and 29 people were injured (all have been released from the hospital) Later police found a second device on 27th street.

And on Monday morning at about 8:00 o’clock authorities announced Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28 as suspect in the Chelsea, New York bombing and New Jersey incidents.

And about 11:30 Ahmad Khan Rahami was captured in Linden, New Jersey.

It was fast, not even 48 hours it took to capture the suspect. Did use of technology was a help?

On Sunday noon Mayor Bill de Blasio hosted press conference to discuss the explosion in Chelsea. With him were Police Commissioner James O’Neill, FBI Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro and others.

Police Commissioner James O’Neill, left, Mayor de Blasio, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro, right, at the Sunday Press Conference © h. nazan ışık /NKENdiKEN

Mayor de Blasio at his opening speech said” Now this was a very serious incident. […]Now we know from everything we’ve seen so far that this was an intentional act. We do not know the motivation; we do not know the nature of it.“

“I want to affirm again, if you have any information that might link to this incident, video, photos, eyewitness accounts, overheard conversations, anything – please call the NYPD. And the number is 1–800–577–TIPS, 1–800–577–T–I–P–S.,” said Mayor de Blasio.

Police Commissioner James O’Neill: “So, we have two separate crime scenes. There are a number of agencies involved –the NYPD, the FBI, the ATF, and the State Police. So, there are many agencies involved in this complex investigation.

We’ve recovered video from both scenes and we’re continuing to canvass for witnesses and additional video. And we’re looking to speak to anyone in the vicinity of either location last night. So, we need people to call 1-800-577-TIPS, as the Mayor said. We put that out last night. And, as New Yorkers usually do, we’ve received numerous phone calls and each one of those phone calls in being vetted by our detectives.”

Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney, FBI: The FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Taskforce, which is made up of over 50 agencies is fully engaged. […]The New York JTTF is also working side by side with the Newark, New Jersey-based JTTF. We will also bring additional resources in as we need them. If anyone has any information, we ask you to use either the NYPD tip line at 1-800-577-TIPS, or submit a tip on our website at www.fbi.gov.

To a question about surveillance video of the scene “As far as video recovered – I did view a video last night of the blast. We are canvassing for additional video to see who might have been walking down either street before the blast,” answered Commissioner O’Neill.

On Sunday Counter-terrorism officials were working on the scene on 23^rd street.

And later police found a suspected unexploded second bomb on 27th street.

It was about 8:00 o’clock on Monday, 19 September, a cellphone alert was sent out : “WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9-1-1 if seen.”

Same day at noon Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner O’Neill, and Assistant Director Sweeney, Jr. hold press conference.

Police Commissioner James O’Neill: “So it’s been an extremely busy two days, obviously. It came out successful – so today our efforts were successful thanks to the brave police officers from the Linden, New Jersey Police Department. They captured this dangerous individual – Ahmad Khan Rahami, right here. […]Our primary focus has been to identify and apprehend a person responsible for these crimes. Now that we have this suspect in custody, the investigation can focus on other aspects, such as whether this individual acted alone and what his motivations may have been. “

Mayor de Blasio: “We activated earlier today a messaging system used by our Office of Emergency Management. That allowed us to get information out to all New Yorkers across the board. And it had an extraordinary effect – also reached many people in the Metropolitan area. We were able to reach all of our police officers simultaneously because of the technology they have now as well. That is something that proved to be very helpful in this instance – getting that message out broadly, putting everyone on alert in a mutual way. We believe that was very helpful in this equation. But there is still information that we’ll need going forward. So I want people to be patient because it will be an ongoing investigation. I want people to be vigilant. A reminder – you call 1-8-0-0-5-7-7-T-I-P-S with any information you have,” said.

Assistant Director in Charge of New York Division William F. Sweeney, Jr., FBI.

Assistant Director in Charge of New York Division William F. Sweeney, Jr., FBI: “Since the last briefing we provided you yesterday, hundreds of personnel from the New York and Newark, New Jersey JTTFs, along with the NYPD Detective Bureau have been working around the clock developing and tracking leads, reviewing surveillance footage, employing sophisticated investigative techniques, and executing searches. Based on our evidence collection and supported by other analysis, the JTTFs began to focus on Ahmad Khan Rahami, working to develop his whereabouts and possible locations for surveillance.

Based on our evidence collection, supported by other analysis, searches and interviews were conducted at residences in Elizabeth, New Jersey and in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Additional leads were followed as well. And we turned to the public this morning for assistance, initially using a more recent photo of Rahami. A short time ago, as you know, Rahami was arrested in Linden, New Jersey.”

Commissioner O’Neill: So a lot of technology involved in this, but a lot of good old-fashioned police work, too. I mean between the FBI and the NYPD, the members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, this is a pretty quick turnaround. This happened 50 hours ago and we have our suspect in custody I think the alert system is very helpful to the Police Department and the FBI, and in this and in other instances also – it gets everybody involved. It’s that sense of shared responsibility”

Mayor said on the emergency alert: “We think it’s a very valuable tool. We think it created a lot of focus and urgency. […] This is a tool we will use again in the future in similar situations. There obviously was an imminent threat, and it was a very appropriate situation in which to use it. And I think it is another example of the innovation that’s going on with NYPD and OEM that there was a way to reach people – different from the past, no more wanted posters on the precinct house wall. This is a modern approach that really engaged the whole community. So yes we will use it.”

Commissioner O’Neill: “That’s the world we’re living in now. Any street, any incident in New York City, you get to – most of the time – that gets captured on video surveillance. So as we go through the investigation, as we continue to gather more surveillance video, it’s going to help us move forward with this case and make sure that this suspect – this subject – is brought to justice and pays the maximum price,” answered a question about how valuable surveillance cameras were in identifying Rahami and/or his associates.

Commissioner O’Neill: We’re going to use whatever technology is available to keep the people of the city safe.”