Public Safety and the Militarization of Urban Space
Anyone who has stood in the airport security line post 9/11 has become accustomed to the ritual of removing shoes, getting a pat down, and not being able to carry a bottle of water through to the gate. The screening has become such a routine part of travel that we go through the process mindlessly, each time sacrificing a little bit of comfort for the sake of safety and security. The years after 9/11, however, have not only seen increased security in our airports, but militarization of public space in general, especially so in major metropolitan areas.
Since the election, intense security measures in the area around the Trump Tower, home of President-elect Donald Trump, have raised concerns that his preference to spend time in New York rather than the White House will turn into “not a mere annoyance but a state-sponsored takeover of public space.” In A Guide to White House North, The New York Times describes the scene around the Trump Tower, “In addition to whatever fortifications and personnel the Secret Service deploys but doesn’t talk about, the city has assigned 50 additional traffic agents and police officers to manage flow, and has posted surveillance officers on elevated platforms and rooftops. Bomb-sniffing dogs and plainclothes police officers patrol the vicinity, and heavy-weapons teams are nearby.” There are also multiple street blockages with concrete barriers and checkpoints on corners.
As residents and students of cities, we might ask how far are we willing to compromise in the name of safety? At which point does the infringement on public space go too far, and the urban environment starts to feel more hostile than safe? Personally speaking, seeing armed guards in kevlar vests performing random bag searches on the street does not make me feel safer, but instead raises my levels of alert and anxiety, as if expecting an impending attack. Another question we might ask is whether data and analytics can help in protecting our cities without further militarizing them? New technologies and methods such as spatial, temporal, and social network analyses used in predictive policing today might inform better solutions in the future. For the time being, however, we better be avoiding Fifth Avenue at 56th Street.
