Within hours of the car bomb incident in Times Square, LAPD held a news conference to assure the public that the Department is prepared to react in the event of a similar incident in Los Angeles. Capt. Horace Frank told reporters there was no reason to believe a bomb threat was imminent in L.A. and that there was nothing specific the LAPD is going to do beyond the normal state of continued vigilance. The LAPD, he explained, uses a "trifecta" approach to terrorist threats, which involves well-trained police officers, one of the country’s largest bomb detection units and community engagement.

A big reason the incident in New York didn’t turn into a catastrophe was because police officers were nearby and able to respond quickly when a citizen reported smoke coming from inside an SUV. This incident serves as an important reminder of why we simply can’t afford to reduce the police presence on our streets and in our neighborhoods.

While L.A. officers are superbly trained, they can’t prevent a threat if there are inadequate ranks policing the city. As we have documented numerous times in the last year and a half, budget cuts have resulted in fewer police on duty.

Also, as our fellow LAPD officer “Jack Dunphy” pointed out in his blog about the incident, perhaps the LAPD needs to reconsider its decision to down-size its anti-terrorism unit – and reassign those officers to do what they were specially trained to do.

With so many possible terrorist targets in our city, it’s foolish and irresponsible to ignore the possibility of a Times Square incident. In addition to watchful residents, we need sufficient numbers of officers and specialists to prevent and react to threats. We again call on the city leadership to reject any more cuts to the public safety budget.