U.S. Response:  New York Law Enforcement to Receive New Equipment, Funding

New York State is set to begin distributing to law enforcement agencies this spring 113 trailers equipped to combat biological and chemical terrorism, according to the New York Post (see GSN, Feb. 13).

The trailers, which cost about $200,000 each and are funded through a $25 million grant, are equipped with hazardous-materials suits, chemical and biological detection equipment and sample collection kits.  New York City will receive 17 of the trailers, with the rest going to New York State Police and other local law enforcement agencies (Kenneth Lovett, New York Post, Feb. 25).

Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has appropriated $4 million to help the New York City Police Department purchase new protective equipment, such as gas masks, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said yesterday.  The funding, included in an appropriations bill approved Feb. 13, would enable the department to purchase about 15,000 masks, according to the New York Times.  The department could also use the money to purchase other protective equipment, officials said.

The city and its Police Department, however, still need an additional $900 million to cover adequately the costs of preparing for a possible future terrorist attack, Clinton and police union officials, said.  The Police Department has requested $261 million, the Times reported.

“We need more help from the federal government for the additional burdens that are being imposed on the N.Y.P.D., the burdens that require the constant vigilance that this city is known for,” Clinton said.  “But we’re not getting the help we need, and it is a grave concern throughout the city and at every level of government,” she added.

Ed Mullins, president of a union that represents police sergeants, echoed the call for more funding.  “To continue to go about putting cops on the street without preparing them for a disaster is no different than sending canaries into a coal mine,” Mullins said (William Rashbaum, New York Times, Feb. 25).

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United States:  On-The-Lam Monkey Raises Fears Over Proposed Laboratory

The recent escape of a research monkey from a University of California at Davis facility has raised concerns among area residents about the security of a proposed Biosafety Level 4 laboratory the university is seeking to build, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, July 18, 2002).

The 2-year old female rhesus macaque, which was to be used for breeding purposes, escaped the California National Primate Research Center Feb. 13 when handlers were cleaning cages.  The macaque went behind the cages, and the center’s employees reported hearing a slurping sound, as if the monkey had went down a small drain, according to the AP.  A search of the center’s plumbing using fiber-optic cameras, however, failed to find the monkey. 

In the 41 years that the primate center has been in operation, 82 monkeys have been able to escape and enjoy life on the outside before being quickly captured or return voluntarily, said UC-Davis spokeswoman Lisa Lapin. 

The primate center would supply research animals to the proposed laboratory, for which UC-Davis submitted a grant application this month to the National Institutes of Health.  The at-large monkey is disease-free because the primate center raises research animals for Biosafety Level 2 and 3 diseases, which have treatments available, university officials said.  They added that the monkey would not have been able to break out of the proposed laboratory, which would employ armed guards.

Still, area residents who oppose the Biosafety Level 4 facility said the escape raised questions about the proposed laboratory’s security. 

“If they can’t manage these monkeys when they’ve got level two and three diseases, how will they manage monkeys with level four diseases?” said Joshua English.

California National Primate Research Center Director Dallas Hyde said the security levels between the primate center and the proposed laboratory would be very different.  “Animals that go in there don’t come out alive,” he said (Brian Melley, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 23).

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