Defending the City article in the New Yorker
That said, life in New York City has developed a more surveilled, paranoid,
almost militarized tenor than it had before 9/11, and a good amount of that
can be put down to the police, I think, and to programs like Hercules. Some
people, I gather, find the sight of police teams in body armor and combat
helmets, carrying assault rifles, comforting. I don’t. There’s an element of
theatre to a lot of counterterror work, and it’s not particularly edifying
theatre. It’s endless vigilance, no victory. Success means nothing happens.
Such anti-drama is, of course, the essence of prevention.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/articles/050725on_onlineonly01