International Journal on Criminology Volume 4, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 18

International Journal on Criminology
-----At the start, these partnerships included 21 LEAs such as Jersey City,
Nassau County, Suffolk County, Newark New Jersey, Rockland County
Police, New Jersey State Police.
-----Eventually, the alliance extended to Albany, Syracuse, Rochester,
and Buffalo.
Ultimately, this informal, bottoms-up alliance extended across the
country to include the Texas Rangers, Columbus Ohio PD, Minneapolis PD,
LAPD, Fremont California, Portland Maine, Boston, and more.
-----By the end of the Kelly Administration, there were 145 members of
Operation Sentry linked together via video conferencing, telephone contact,
and operational/information-sharing meetings.
Several essential features of Operation Sentry made it effective and
attractive to each member.
-----First and foremost, the NYPD Intelligence Division made it clear
it needed the help to protect New York City; traditional “I can do it alone”
arrogance was left behind.
-----Second, the NYPD Intelligence Division committed some of its best
detectives and analysts to Operation Sentry; this was an important way of
showing respect for our partners and the nature of the NYPD commitment.
-----Third, the NYPD provided training, advice, and support on any matter
an alliance member would request of it. This extended to counterterrorism
matters or traditional crime issues.
-----In this regard, the NYPD Intelligence Division became the entry
way into the vast resources and know-how of the NYPD when needed by
an Operation Sentry
partner.
-----When the Hoboken, New Jersey PD needed scuba divers to assist
in retrieving a body from the Hudson River, for example, the first call for
help came to the NYPD Intelligence Division. The same with the murder of
an upstate New York female found in Long Island.
-----Fourth, information sharing—to be discussed in more detail below—
was complete and transparent and based on a policy of “push” rather than
“pull”; Intelligence Division policy and practice was to get information out
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