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Meet the Gay, Indian American NYPD Officer Who Will Be Making Sure World Pride Is Safe

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The Wall Street Journal profiled Ravi Satkalmi,a high-ranking New York Police Department intelligence officer who will be on the clock and “checking his cellphone every minute to ensure the event is safe.”

Back in April, Security magazine said of Mr. Satkalmi: For much of the past decade, Ravi Satkalmi has helped lead the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Intelligence Analysis Unit, a team within the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau that provides critical support on counterterrorism investigations, analyzes foreign and domestic terrorist threats to the city, offers input on policies pertaining to counterterrorism, and liaises with law enforcement and private sector partners. The bureau was retooled in the years following the September 11 attacks, and has served a unique role within the U.S. law enforcement community during the War on Terror. There are few experts as knowledgeable as Satkalmi on the terrorism trends that are most relevant to U.S. metropolitan areas and the following interview seeks to understand some recent dynamics, as he sees them.

From today’s Wall Street Journal:

“What we’re looking at, and are concerned about, are a wide range of threat actors,” Mr. Satkalmi said in an interview at his office on Tuesday.

As the NYPD’s deputy director for intelligence analysis, he oversees dozens of analysts who work on counterterrorism efforts, including focusing on events such as the Pride March.

“The white supremacist to the jihadist, all of them have specifically targeted the LGBT community in their propaganda,” said Mr. Satkalmi, who has worked for the NYPD for eight years. “ISIS, we know, is an organization that has thrown gays from the tops of buildings.”

NYPD had identified no credible or specific threats to the Pride March as of Wednesday. Mr. Satkalmi said his analysts encountered a typical level of terroristic chatter online in the days leading up to the event.

But the police department has increased vigilance, Mr. Satkalmi said, because of the unprecedented size of the Pride March, which organizers expect will draw up to five million people.

The Wall Street Journal

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE.

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