U.S. Cities Add Security Measures to Protect from Vehicle Attacks
Since 2014, terrorists have carried out 176 vehicle attacks resulting in the death of 173 people and injuries of 667.
As terrorists overseas are increasingly turning to vehicles as weapons, cities around the United States are looking to ramp up security to ensure that an incident similar to the attacks in London, Berlin and Paris don’t happen in their own backyard.
Since 2014, terrorists have carried out 17 attacks using vehicles as weapons killing 173 people and injuring over 600 in the process. This statistic does not include the vehicle attacks that happen from those who may not be related to ISIS or might even be driving a vehicle impaired resulting in a crash with mass causalities.
“There’s unfortunately almost no end to the number of times these things happen by accident and, unfortunately, it is increasing the number of times these things are happening on purpose,” Rob Reiter, a pedestrian safety expert and chief security consultant at Calpipe Security Bollards said in an interview with the Washington Post.
Bollards and security barriers have been added to big cities with heavy pedestrian traffic as well as increased police presence in the areas with the most foot traffic.
In Las Vegas alone, 700 bollards are being installed along the Las Vegas Strip this year at a cost of $5 million. Although there is no specific threat to the strip, security professionals and city government are calling the decision to increase security a matter of “life and death.”
In New York, officials have been calling for more bollards following the incident that claimed one life in May when a vehicle crashed into pedestrians near Times Square.
In Los Angeles the City Council will vote this summer on whether to direct the police department and other agencies to issue a report on mitigation methods for vehicle attacks.