The NYPD has repeatedly claimed it has thwarted 14 terrorist plots against New York since 9/11. Is it true? In a word, no
The NYPD is regularly held up as one of the most sophisticated and significant counterterrorism operations in the country. As evidence of the NYPD's excellence, the department, its allies and the media have repeatedly said the department has thwarted or helped thwart 14 terrorist plots against New York since Sept 11.
In a glowing profile of commissioner Ray Kelly published in Newsweek last month, for example, journalist Christopher Dickey wrote of the commissioner's tenure since taking office in 2002: the record "is hard to argue with: at least 14 full-blown terrorist attacks have been prevented or failed on Kelly's watch."
The figure has been cited repeatedly in the media, by New York congressmen, and by Kelly himself. The NYPD itself has published the full list, saying terrorists have "attempted to kill New Yorkers in 14 different plots."
Scott Adams, the author and cartoonist whose "Dilbert" comic strip satirized corporate life to wide acclaim...
