Mountainside Police Chief Remembers 9/11

Just outside his office, Police Chief of Mountainside, James J. Debbie Jr.  has proudly created his own tribute to 9/11. 

On the wall, he has mounted a framed poster which artfully displays the names and photos of the thirty-seven Port Authority officers that tragically perished while risking their lives to rescue victims from the rapid destruction of the Twin Towers. 

One of these officers, was Inspector Anthony Infante, who was staying in Mountainside at the time of the attacks on 9/11.  Although it has been ten years, Chief Debbie’s own memory of that fateful day has never faded.

“I can remember that morning like it was yesterday,” Chief Debbie said, “I was watching the news while I was getting ready for work.  When they reported that a plane had hit the World Trade Center, I was sure that it must have been an accident. I went upstairs, woke up my son Michael and said ‘Come here, quick! History is being made. A plane hit the World Trade Center. As they began to speak of a larger plane on the news, we knew there was something wrong. Then the second plane hit. We saw it happen live; we were dumbfounded. My first thought was we’re at war,” he said.

Chief Debbie then rushed down to Police Headquarters.

“I wanted to make sure that all of my guys were out on the road,” he said. “We had one incident up on Summit Road. People had begun to gather on top of the hill in front of someone’s house to watch the Twin Towers burn. The owner of the house had called police headquarters asking police to come to his house, to remove the spectators. 

“When we responded saying that we were too busy, he turned his sprinklers on. Isn’t that terrible? When he called to complain I said, you have to be kidding me! This is a tragedy,” Chief Debbie said. 

Many of those who watched the towers collapse from the view atop Summit Road were in tears.  Throughout the country, so many remained immobilized by the tragedy, unable to comprehend the horror of what had just happened. In fact, when Chief Debbie arrived at work that morning, he found his entire staff gathered around the television, watching the news in absolute shock.

At the time, there were twenty police officers on the force; eight were on duty that day, including two detectives. All were in a state of disbelief.

“I immediately sent my officers on patrol because I wanted to make sure that my residents knew they were safe,” Chief Debbie said.  “We deployed a police car to each school. I told my officers; let people see you. Maybe that will make the children feel safer. I didn’t want anybody to feel the panic I was feeling, especially after we heard that the Pentagon had been attacked.  The officers also drove up and down Route 22. I wanted high visibility throughout the Borough, protecting the people of Mountainside. What else could we do?"

Chief Debbie spoke briefly about a news report he had seen about the female pilot who had attempted to stop Fight 93 without any weapons.  Patch asked Chief Debbie what he would have done if he were in her shoes

“First of all, I wouldn’t have been up there without weapons.  If I had weapons, I would have shot the plane down. Wouldn’t you? God forbid you’re up there without weapons, you smash into the plane. We’ve all been on calls out here where you never know what is going to happen,” he said.

Clearly Chief Debbie’s dedication and loyalty to the people he serves extends far beyond the borders of Mountainside.

“The job has most definitely changed since 9/11. We are more aware of what is going on around us. We are certainly more aware of large gatherings that could be a target.  One of my biggest concerns is the movie theater. We have extra officers assigned to the Lowes Movie Theater on Route 22 East on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,” Chief Debbie noted.

Some of the extra help was requested by the movie theater, who supplements some of the cost, but since 9/11 it has become mandatory. The water tower in town, which stretches to the sky on top of the mountain, is another location that Chief Debbie worries could be a target. The town also has electric substations on Globe Avenue that supply a large part of the county with electricity. These locations are places that are closely monitored to ensure the safety of large gatherings and the town’s infrastructure.

Even the officers are trained differently at the John H. Stamler Union County Police Academy in Scotch Plains. The academy has a section on terrorism, and all units are equipped with this knowledge. The Union County SWAT team has been training differently since 9/11 as well.   

“One of our officers is on the SWAT team and serves as a hostage negotiator, and the other is a Uniform SWAT Officer,” Chief Debbie noted.

In the years since 9/11, police officers have also been using new technology.

 “The technology has increased in leaps and bounds since 9/11,” Chief Debbie stated.  “We now use the Live Scan Fingerprint technology which allows us to find out who somebody is immediately if they have ever been arrested before. This means that if there is a terrorist out there and we stop him for a minor crime and fingerprint him, we will find out exactly who he is,” Chief Debbie said.  In the years since 9/11, Live Scan has become a widely used technology.  In fact, there are very few departments in New Jersey that do not have this technology.  Chief Debbie expanded saying, “We have systems in our police cars that can run a single license plate in seven databases simultaneously.”

 “If there is another attack, I think we are ready for it,” Chief Debbie said. He explained that alerts have been sent to all police departments from Homeland Security through the prosecutor’s office as well from the Regional Office of Intelligence Communication.

“I honestly don’t think anything is going to happen but we have all completely changed our lives in the days since 9/11. We are always on alert. 9/11 has certainly changed my life, and I’m sure it has changed yours too.”

Chief Debbie urges citizens to follow the advertisements often displayed around New York City. “If you see something, say something, nothing could be better than that phrase,” Chief Debbie

When asked if he thought that this state of hyper vigilance is the new norm for America, Chief Debbie responded, saying, “I can’t see how it won’t be. Maybe ten years from now we will relax a little, but 9/11 will remind us that we can’t do that; we have to stay on our toes and be prepared.”