Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Thursday that he was not briefed quickly enough or with specifics about an al-Qaida-planned underwear bomb that was to have been detonated on a U.S.-bound flight.
Kelly said he didn't get any details until a week after the news broke.
The briefing from federal authorities "should have been in a more timely fashion," he said.
"We can't just be treated like any other city -- we've had 14 plots here, we got 3,000, almost 3,000 people killed five blocks from here, we had another attack in 1993," Kelly said. "We're different and we need that information as quickly as possible."
It was revealed earlier this month that al-Qaida completed a sophisticated new, non-metallic underwear bomb last month and that the would-be suicide bomber actually was a double agent working with the CIA and Saudi intelligence agencies.
Kelly said he has addressed his concerns with federal authorities and said he hopes it doesn't happen again. He did not single out a specific agency.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said at a hearing Wednesday, when asked by Sen. Charles Schumer about possible communications problems between the FBI and NYPD, that "there are always bumps in the road" among agencies sharing information.
"Whenever you have strong-willed agencies and parts of agencies you are going to have, as I say, the bumps in the road," he said. "I don't think there's any extraordinary action that needs to be taken by myself or Ray Kelly or others to address a current issue."
A law enforcement official told NBC 4 New York that none of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force members across the country were briefed quickly on the specifics of the plot or the material contained within the underwear bomb.
Another official said most of the information authorities have relied on at first came from published information.
Get the latest from NBC 4 New York anytime, anywhere. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Get our apps here and sign up for email newsletters here. Get breaking news delivered right to your phone -- just text NYBREAKING to 639710. For more info, text HELP. To end, text STOP. Message and data rates may apply.
