THE sign on the door screamed for attention with three exclamation marks: “Warning!!!”
“Military working dog inside. Dog will bite. Do not enter,” the notice declared in bold, capital letters.
It was no empty threat. An army officer occupied the service apartment with his canine partner. They were in town on security detail for the 62nd UN General Assembly.
His neighbour readily testified about the dog’s monstrous size. “No one dares step inside the lift with them,” said Ezani Amir, a Malaysian on an assignment with the United Nations.
Besides, who wants to mess with dogs that wear police badges?
“You want to say hi to Brit?” asked one dog handler, during a chance encounter with one such four-legged fellow.
“Don’t worry, he’s a friendly one,” he said, patting the five-year-old German shepherd.
Uhm, no thank you! Not when Brit, despite sitting upright looking coy, is up to the waist of his six-foot master.
As more than 100 world leaders gathered in New York City for the annual meet, security personnel are on heightened alert for any clear and present danger. Unmarked police cars line the streets, besides hazmat teams.
All roads leading to the UN headquarters and designated hotels were teeming with sniffer dogs, secret service guys and policemen who put up French barriers (aluminium partitions) at roadblocks.
The NYPD (New York Police Department) is everywhere. These men and their machines are lean and mean, arriving in trucks, big bikes and good old bicycles.
Its emergency service unit looked like action heroes from Hollywood thrillers. They barely blink, their rifles ready in their arm with their trigger-finger in a position ready to swing into action as they watched the crowd like hawks.
These sharpshooters, in their full assault gear, patrolled the streets in black vans with all the doors wide open, appearing unhesitant to fire their weapons at the first sign of danger.
Such vigilance wasn’t just displayed on the roads only. Security officers were stationed on rooftops, armed with telescopes and guns.
Datuk Hamidon Ali, Malaysia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, found that there were extra security measures this year due to the presence of a number of leaders from countries considered “high-risk”.
Access to the UN headquarters was stricter and sometimes even ambassadors were not spared close scrutiny.
“Six types of access passes have been issued this year for delegates. They are allowed entry only specific areas and meetings, depending on the pass that they have,” he said.
Last Thursday, the Malaysian permanent mission hosted a reception for foreign dignitaries to commemorate the country’s 50th anniversary of its UN membership.
As part of the security preparations, secret service officers came to the permanent mission for reconnaissance prior to the event.
“They wanted to know who would be serving the food, who the guests were, and so forth,” Hamidon said.
“They wanted to ensure the security of all leaders. For instance, they advised us to cover the back of our reception area because it was open, facing apartments. ”
Due to the tight security procedures, Hamidon said he would make sure there was ample time before leaving for any meetings, sometimes allocating even up to 30 minutes extra.
When President George W. Bush is in town, the route he passes through is cordoned off.
Hamidon recounted an anecdote last year when Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar was walking to the nearby UN building from the Malaysian mission. Bush and his entourage were passing through, and all pedestrians were stopped in their tracks.
Several months ago, Hamidon witnessed an amusing exchange between an old man and a traffic policeman at a roadblock near the UN building.
“The elderly guy asked the cop who was coming through. When he was told that it was Bush, he questioned why he should make way for the president as he did not even vote for him.”
The policeman replied: “Neither did I vote for him. But you just have to stay put till I say you can proceed.”
New York motorists have to bear with the traffic gridlock during the UNGA (UN general assembly).
“Think of the GA in UNGA as ‘Gridlock Alert’ or ‘Got Aspirin?’,” Paul J. Browne, deputy police commissioner, was quoted as saying in Newsday newspaper.
The estimated cost of providing security is expected to run into a multi-million-dollar bill, he added.
