NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said that he doesn’t believe the White House’s assertion that ISIS lacks the capability to attack the US and works “every day, based on the premise that they have that capability” on Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
When asked if what happened in Paris could happen in New York City, Bratton answered, “It could. And it’s something that — going back to the events of 9/11 that the police department and the city have constantly been preparing for and trying to protect against. So far we’ve been successful, over 20 efforts have been directed against the city, all have been thwarted so far. We will be watching this one very closely to see what can we learn from it.”
Bratton adding that people using encryption devices to drop off the radar is something that they encounter “all the time.” He added that “the technology has been purposely designed by manufacturers that — so that even they claim they can’t get into their own devices after they built them.”
Bratton later said that Silicon Valley could “certainly” be a greater help in dealing with encryption devices, and “they need to work with us right now. In many respects, they’re working against us.”
He was then asked, “Do you disagree with the White House, who, this past weekend, seemed to say that an attacks on the United States wasn’t possible? They said they didn’t have the capability to attack here?”
Bratton answered, “Oh, I don’t believe that. We work every day, based on the premise that they have that capability, that — and what we just saw in Paris, why do we think that would not happen here?”
(h/t Washington Free Beacon)
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