Georgetown University and the Georgetown University Hospital may soon participate in the Metropolitan Police Department terrorism prevention initiative launched last Thursday. The program, called Operation Terrorist Prevention Program (TIPP), seeks to enlist the help of local businesses and institutions in detecting terrorist activity via the dissemination of preparatory information and the establishment of a telephone hotline.
Captain Jeff Herold of MPD’s Special Operations Division, who directs Operation TIPP, said that the program is still in its infancy and is only beginning to contact organizations in the D.C. area.
Georgetown’s Director of Media Relations Laura Cavender reported that the University learned of the program from MPD Jan. 13 press release.
“Georgetown, like most major institutions and businesses in the city, has been made aware of the program,” she said. She declined to specify the extent to which the University would assist MPD in implementing the TIPP initiative.
Despite Cavender’s assurance of the Georgetown community’s awareness of the program, the Human Resources Department at Georgetown University Hospital was unfamiliar with Operation TIPP and had not been contacted about it by MPD.
According to Herold, however, the hospital represents a potential target for terrorists.
“There are all kinds of ways that a hospital, in particular, could be victimized,” he said.
Herold said that a terrorist might try to obtain employment at the hospital in order to gain access to biochemical resources, which could then be exploited in a terrorist attack on Washington.
Although MPD is currently cooperating with the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Downtown Business Improvement District to put the program into operation, businesses in the Georgetown area also remain largely unaware of TIPP.
A survey of businesses on nearby M St., including Barnes and Noble, Chipotle, Johnny Rockets and Starbucks, revealed that none of them had received phone calls or information from MPD regarding TIPP.
MPD also failed to alert the city’s U.S. Post Offices, which dealt with several anthrax scares following Sept. 11, according to D.C. Postal Inspector Denise Backus.
In defense of his program, Herold said that knowledge of TIPP will spread with time.
He said that MPD intends to implement TIPP in the clothing stores at the Shops at Georgetown Park because terrorist access directed at these locations could open the door to the risk of transformation of normally harmless items, such as shoes, into potential hiding places for knives or bombs.
Ronald Reagan National Airport, whose grounds are perpetually under enhanced security, has not been involved in TIPP. Due to the number of restaurants and other establishments located within the airport, Herold said that he recognizes the danger in terrorists attempting to obtain a job in order to gain entry into restricted areas of the airport but said that the airport will not be a TIPP site this year. He intends to implement TIPP on a smaller scale in 2005, however, as this is its first year of operation.
“TIPP is starting in the city and then we’re going to enlarge or increase the scope of the program,” he said.
Student reactions to MPD’s undertaking were mixed.
Elena Paredes (SFS ‘07) feels that the program is a step forward in the right direction.
“TIPP will help to clear things up for businesses by providing specific instances that they should be on the look out for,” she said. “Post 9/11, everyone was and still is on high alert as far as watching for suspicious activity, but now people know more specifically what they should be mindful of.”
Shalini Thomas (SFS ‘08), who claims to closely monitor U.S. preparedness in the prevention of terrorist acts, disagrees.
“An article in the New York Times talks about how government information is still not being shared, even after the 9/11 Commission review came out,” she said. “So while TIPP is a good idea, nothing will get done until the different domestic intelligence agencies start sharing information.”
