BELURAN: Lone wolf attacks involving self-radicalised individuals are the biggest concern for law enforcement agencies in the United States, said the New York Police Department (NYPD) today.
Its intelligence bureau chief Thomas Galati, who is on a working visit here, also said it is vital for the US to identify these dangerous individuals by working closely with other countries.
Galati cited the recent terror attack in New York City, which saw a lone wolf driving a rented pickup truck into cyclists and runners, killing eight people and injuring 11 others.
“Although I think our counter-terrorism efforts are very good, today’s threat revolves around lone wolves — people who act on their own or get radicalised on their own. This is what we are worried about.
“So, I think it is very similar here (in Malaysia) too and that’s why it’s important to cooperate with other police departments and agencies so we can both learn from each other on how to identify lone wolf threats,” he told the New Straits Times today.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that the threats could be coming from the US or Malaysia. If the threats emerge from either country, the ability to reach out and tell them what we know about that person or that threat is vital to everybody’s safety,” he added.
Galati, whose unit is focused on counter-terrorism, said lone wolves are impulsive and do not require planning when carrying out an attack, which makes it very difficult for the police to identify them.
He said unlike the well-coordinated Sept 11 attacks, lone terrorists could pose a serious threat by simply “thinking outside the box”.
“Today, you can just drive a car or use a knife. Maybe a lot of people don’t get killed in the attack but if one person gets killed, that’s too many.
Galati and six other US delegates are visiting the remote village of Kampung Matanggal in Paitan here. The objective of the visit is to gain an insight into the operation of a mobile court in the far-flung village.
Prior to visiting Sabah, Galati, the senior officer in NYPD’s intelligence division, had met with top federal police officials in Kuala Lumpur to discuss collaboration efforts.
“We actually deploy people around the world and we have an officer posted in Singapore, who has liaises with the Malaysian police.
“So we are dedicated to this region and that’s why we put our men here and the NYPD is dedicated to cooperate with the police here.”