Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the NYPD hasn't been briefed on the specifics of the thwarted underwear bomb plot operation, which he said is the type of information the city needs as a top terror target.
"This is the type of information quite frankly, that we need, we deserve, in the nation's biggest target," Kelly said Friday.
Officials have said the discovery of the unexploded bomb this week represented an intelligence prize resulting from a covert CIA operation in Yemen, saying that the intercept thwarted a suicide mission around the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Speaking Friday after a memorial service at Police Plaza, Kelly said he wasn't frustrated or irritated by the lack of information, but that he'd like to get the specifics "as soon as possible" in order to "protect the city."
"We'd like to know the specifics of the device, the materials used, where those materials may be obtained -- common sense things," the commissioner said.
Though the plot had no direct link to New York, the city remains one of the top terror targets in the world, Kelly and FBI officials have said. It's already been the site of two successful terrorist attacks and multiple attempts, including a botched effort to detonate a car bomb in Times Square two years ago.
Kelly said there was different information floating around about the underwear bomb, but the NYPD has not seen photos or been given details. He said the department would be interested in knowing where such a device could be obtained, for example.
Kelly said he'd hope to get the specifics through the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
A law enforcement official told NBC New York that none of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force members across the country have been briefed on the specifics of the plot or the material contained within the so-called underwear bomb.
Another official said most of the information authorities have relied on has come from published information, which the official said has been partially inaccurate.
According to reports, the device did not contain metal, meaning it probably could have passed through an airport metal detector. But it was not clear whether new body scanners used in many airports would have detected it.
The device is an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. Officials said the new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaida developed a more refined detonation system.
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.
