New York Univ. Course Assignment: Plan a Terrorist Attack

Is homework meant to prepare students for careers in counter-terrorism an insult to the NYPD?

A course in terrorism in the heart of the Big Apple is asking students how they'd plot and execute a hypothetical attack - and it's got NYC cops more than a little peeved.

The New York University course on transnational terrorism, taught by former Navy criminal investigator Marie-Helen Maras, has assigned students to detail the methods of their attack in addition to anticipating the inevitable response on the part of authorities. "The exercise is meant to prepare students for careers in intelligence, policing, [and] counter-terrorism," Maras told the New York Post.

But some of Gotham's police officers find the assignment reprehensible and an insult to the NYPD. This despite the fact that a handful of their peers are apparently enrolled in Maras's class.

"This flies in the face of the 11 years of hard work the NYPD has done in tracking down terrorists," said one officer whose name has been withheld.

Perhaps to help quell such sentiments - and to warn any potential real-life terrorist to take her students with a grain of salt - Maras requires the assignments to come with this disclaimer: "This is a hypothetical scenario for a university course on transnational terrorism."

Via the New York Post.

Is the course assignment insulting, or necessary to prepare students for work in the field of counter-terrorism?

[Twilightmom40]

This I'd a sad and terrible idea!

[PNWest]

Why not give the completed assignments to NYPD? Who knows maybe the students will come up with something that the authorities haven't thought of.

[MBernard]

I don't think that's a bad idea. Think about it. If you want to work on the field, especially the intelligence part of it, wouldn't you want to know everything the bad guys know? What if one way to know is to think like them, see what they see, know what they know, this way you'd know how to best counter-attack and even catch them by surprised since you know and think like them. Of course, the best way to protect myself is to know how you think and what you'd do and the things you know.

[bsking]

@MBernard umm no. if you want to go into intelligence or counter terrorism the best pathway is either a military CIA or FBI Academy. somehow the idea that's some college kid taking an idiotic course like this is equivalent to any real life experience is absolute nonsense.

[MBernard]

@bsking wait, I thought the reason the professor said was that The exercise is meant to prepare students for careers in intelligence, policing,[and] counter-terrorism,"?

[marine1]

On a positive side, let the NYPD review the plans when complete to see if there was a workable plan that they may not have thought of. Sometime, less knowledge of a situation opens paths to unthought of situations.

[Penn1699]

@bsking sort of like the flight academy in FL. Not a good idea at all :(

[Koalaskid]

Better us than them. This way the students who plan an attack (probably for September 11, 2023) will have a cushy, if not a irreplaceable job with Homeland security, nationality excepted.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

This is how you know liberal elitists have gone too far.

[dances-weebles]

oh, wow! someone brought the word 'liberal' into the conversation. tell me, do you know any other words?

[Starsplash]

@dances-weebles Its a waste of time... This guys is like the republicans: Hates anyone against him yet has no ideas of his own.

Just forget it

[pezcore64]

@dances-weebles
shhh then hed have to think for himself... dont mess up his pre organised attack lines gosh!

[dances-weebles]

@pezcore64 it would be really good to line all of these folks who can't think of anything other than on the lines of 'liberal/conservative', and every time they mention either of the words pee on their shoes.

tell me, do they try to get their kids to eat their green veggies by screaming about 'liberals'?

[Keyjo]

For legitimate study, it is appropriate. It's a fine line between cops and criminals.
The way to catch a criminal is to think like a criminal. Scenarios are preparatory and as effective a tool in crime prevention as there is.

[Rocker]

That's correct pretty much. Didn't the guys that hacked casino games get a job in security and the guy that hacked into the Def computer system get a job with them in preventing that which he did.

[Keyjo]

@Rocker
I don't know. Nit really familiar.

[Denizen_Kate]

@Keyjo -- Rocker is correct. It wasn't just one guy who hacked into government systems. There are a few infamous hackers who have been hired by agencies with three-letter names. The hackers hired by the casinos get paid better, though.

[Keyjo]

@Denizen_Kate
Oh, I know, Kate. I am just not familiar with this he referenced. Not disputing it.

[Denizen_Kate]

@Keyjo -- I wasn't correcting you, just providing some information is all. :-)

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

Yes, let's put ideas out there to give terrorists new avenues of attacks to try. It had to be a liberal that thought this up.

[Denizen_Kate]

That puts ideas to the NYPD that they may not have thought of, and allows them to patch the holes in OUR security. This is a good thing, so yes, it had to be a liberal who thought of it.

[Dan_Tien]

“To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

[Cheenoguy]

If you are studying for a career in counter terrorism you kinda need to understand terrorism.

[FollowTheMoney]

It seems to me, this course ought to be taught at a police academy instead of a college.

[Keyjo]

Police Academy only teaches the basics. It's akin to bootcamp in the military. Officers who I tend to further their career frequently take college courses. This course is intended as part of the criminology/police science curriculum. It is entirely appropriate subject material.

[FollowTheMoney]

@Keyjo I'll take your word for it. thanks

[dances-weebles]

most police officers study in universities, not police academies. police science is an elite course of study.

[Tina]

No yourself and your enemy and you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles.

[DARSB]

NYPD's anonymous officer seems to have turf issues.

[bsking]

somebody help me out here, is this the same school that head Achmedinjhad as a guest?

[Denizen_Kate]

If it was, that probably also fell under the heading of "know your enemy."

[mimi57]

She needs a course in 101 about shutting her mouth and letting the experts teach, how absurd! We wonder why
we have so many little leftists running around. That is not her job as a Prof.!

[Starsplash]

Not really. Terrorist out there are finding new ways everyday to bomb things. The knowledge right now is very conventional and predictable. You really think experts would of predicted 2 planes crashing into the twin towers.

Fresh face, fresh knowledge will reveal new dangers. If given to the right hands, which Im sure it will be, it can show hypothetical sanarios that can now be on the watch list.

A professor is there to teach. They give hypothetical sanarios everyday in class. This is her job.

[Denizen_Kate]

Mimi, that's a very disappointing comment coming from you. Snarky and not very thoughtful. :-(

[Litdes]

If we wish to develop legitimate anti-terror resources, we need to have the freedom to think about the problem at hand. This exercise would seem to address that very issue, by taking the time to think like a terrorist. If you want to beat them, you will first have to get inside their head. Any law enforcement investigator already knows as much.

[Calfkiller]

So long as they are Americans and don't need to pray half 5 times a day I don't see what the issue is. I mean if your gonna study terrorism your naturally gonna think your way through scenarios related to what your studying. I don't see why the police would be offended. Are they affraid they are gonna point out some weakness or what?

[Starsplash]

I think the police are stupid if they are afraid of this. I mean, collage kids are doing their job. This is what cops should be doing: finding ways to prevent future attacks on their city.

[Calfkiller]

@Starsplash No doubt. It looks to me like that is what they are affraid of. That the students will point out their weaknesses.

[geronimo]

any time you look closely at the law industry, it's a little "insulting"

[MellowGuy]

Could someone give an example of a terrorist attack?
I would like to know what would be the goals of such an attack.
Clearly the twin towers attack didn't gain much for al Qaida, or at least Osama Bin Laden.

[hertz_doughnut]

I found something about 911 that really made me reconsider things. http://www.youtube.com/watch... I am not a religious zealot but this made me think twice.

[Denizen_Kate]

@hertz_doughnut I get a "not available" error message on that link.

[MellowGuy]

@hertz_doughnut
I think that there needs to be more thought out as to how the world works with so much religious and ethnic variation.

In Madison, I shared an apartment with an Arab Muslim in the 60's, but he noted that many other Muslims didn't want to associate with non-Muslims. I missed the opportunity to ask about the Baath movement that was starting up at the time.

The video you referenced is too weird to have any validity.

[Denizen_Kate]

The NYPD can cry "insult" all they want, but it seems to me they should see this as helpful. Some of these students could come up with a diabolical plot or two that the NYPD hasn't thought of and isn't prepared for. I think they should fund a nice, hefty bonus for the best "terrorist plot."

[pezcore64]

What the what???

[BravoJuliet]

I think it's a good idea...if you want to defeat an enemy, you have to know your enemy, and to know an enemy you have to try to think like them...it's one of the best strategies in the book!