Detroit safer than most U.S. cities from Terrorism?
Fresh on the heels of losing their Prime Minister, Pakistan is dealing with the tragedy of losing 20 officers and two civilians in a terrorist attack in Lahore. Too often our relatively safe cities in North America become our entire world and we forget that there are people around the globe that live in fear of constant terrorism. Being a U.S. city on the border of Canada, we at least have a visual presence of forces that are responsible for countering terrorism. This may be false security, but I wonder if Detroit is safer from terrorism than most U.S. cities due to our border location. No one should have to live with and in fear of terrorism and our thoughts are with you Lahore.
Actually, of all US cities, Detroit often ranks high on the list of those with a relatively high risk of terrorist attack. I’ve got a fairly decent background in emergency management and response, which has left me with no choice but to also gain a background in homeland security, and in terms of gaining the insight Detroit’s a pretty good place to learn. Not only does the border and the waterway make it a prime location, but the fact that the central financial district is right in that same path makes it very attractive as a target (not to mention Windsor’s ‘downtown’ and it’s proximity to the same border). On the plus side, these potential targets place Detroit high on the list in receiving homeland security research and dollars, so at least the plans and supplies are (theoretically) in place.
I’d argue that the threat of domestic terrorism is absolutley miniscule compared to those areas such as Lahore, however.