Daily Reminders Linger for Campbell PD, 10 years after 9/11

Patch sites around the country are recalling the stories and tragedies that befell our towns after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A decade later, the memory of that day still has a strong effect on the daily lives of people throughout the United States and the world.

What are some ways that your life has changed after 9/11? Have you seen trends in the economy, foreign policy and political correctness that have emerged in its aftermath? We'll discuss these ideas, and more, over the next 10 days.

Don't forget to take part in Campbell's Boswell's OPENING NFL SUNDAY Tribute Brunch and PARTY on the Sunday anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

Campbell Patch sat down with Campbell Chief of Police Gregory Finch and Capt. Dave Carmichael to talk about where they were when the attack happened and how their lives have changed since.

Here is what they had to say.

Campbell Patch: Where where you when the attacks happened?

Chief Gregory Finch: I was driving to work. It was 8 a.m. there and 5 a.m. here. At first, I didn’t recognize. I was listening to sport talk radio, and they mentioned it, that a plane had flown into a building. I thought it had been some small plane. I didn’t realize.

I turned on the news. It was a shock of, "Wow, I can’t believe that actually happened." I'm sure no different than what other people witnessing felt. Pretty surreal.

Capt. Dave Carmichael: I was in the locker room getting ready for my day shift, and we have a little TV there, and I saw that the first plane had hit already. I thought, "Wow, that’s a lot of damage." I had that image that a little plane had hit the tower.

The term of surreal is pretty accurate. It felt like you were in a dream, trying to figure out what was actually happening. Were more things going to happen? When is it going to end? We just stood there watching the news. Everyone was going through the same emotions that we did.

That day on patrol, everything was unfolding. We didn’t know what the extent of things were, who’s behind it. We felt kind of helpless. We were trying to do our day-to-day job, respond to service calls, and all while this big event is happening. Couldn’t get your mind off of it.

I vividly remember that second plane and feeling complete disbelief.

Patch: Did Campbell PD have a direct connection with the events after Sept. 11?

Finch: We sent one of our police chaplains to Ground Zero. His responsibility was to do memorial services for the bodies found, if he could determine what their discipline was—firefighters, police—then continue to look for the next body.

Patch: Have you been to Ground Zero?

Finch: I went back in 2004, went back to the National Academy, and they took us out to Ground Zero. They had just cleared the site and only had underneath a pad. It was pretty surreal seeing what it used to be and what it was.

Patch: How have things changed since 9/11?

Finch: From a law enforcement perspective, for the last 10 years, we get updates daily on terrorism, what to look for and how it affects our area, where our critical infrastructure to look at are.

In Campbell, we have the light rail and train tracks, high-rise structures and any place where people congregate: schools, public buildings, etc.

It's a weird spot of trying to balance day-to-day things that we recognize, like burglaries, stops, etc. How do we balance this with the possible threat of terrorism? How do we moderate those competing interests?

It's our obligation to be ready and mindful.

Carmichael: Another thing that we can say is that we have partnered a lot more with the federal government—more than in the past and more effective. The federal and local governments communicating, breaking down those barriers.

Finch: It's really been local agencies making the arrests, making the stops. I think the federal government did a good job recognizing this. They’re the ones finding the threats be we are contacting the volume of people, local law enforcement. The FBI isn’t. They have a different mission. They recognize they need local eyes and ears, and we, in turn, need the help of the local community.

Carmichael: As far as how we've changed as a society, overall, we realize that there are actually very, very bad people in the world. That they wake up every morning and their goal is to figure out how many people they can kill. It’s a sobering thought. And 9/11 showed us that there are people that are extremely dangerous and will not stop.

It’s a challenge. It affects many levels of our society. From local law enforcement, out of necessity, it has permeated our society. We do a pretty good job of keeping in perspective, keep living our lives.

We pulled together; we are in this together, ultimately. Most Americans are proud to not allow terrorism to control our every waking thought. It’s a balance. We cannot be overly vigilant.

Finch: The patriotism right after. Pride. People really appreciated the work of law enforcement, fire department. A lot of times we get really mired in the day-to-day, "Gosh, it's expensive to have police officers."

But on that day, as they watched a sea of people running away from the building, there was another spattering of guys and gals that ran toward the buildings that were on fire to help save others.

People recognized the sacrifices that law enforcement does.

The act that as a country, we recognized, people came together. The number of volunteers that worked weeks and months ... It’s interesting. I think that every day we have reminders. This week, National Guardsmen were killed.

We aren't only concerned with international terrorism.

Carmichael: The homegrown violent extremists are every much a threat as international terrorists.

It's key to keep that balance. We stay vigilant but also shouldn’t allow such incidents to prevent us from moving forward and living our lives. We do our best to catch them, deter them and do everything that’s possible to keep us safe.

It’s a balancing act. And the community needs to recognize it.

Finch: And they do. Just look at the upswing of neighborhood associations: It’s a positive thing. We want to work toward that.

Patch, through its parent company, AOL, is involved in a project called ActionAmerica. The project is a collaboration of several corporations, individuals and non-profits organizations designed to honor those affected by the events of 9/11 and unify the country through positive action.