On October 28-29, 2003, the Sister City Program of the City of New York, Inc., in partnership with the New York City Police Department, hosted an international Security Summit, titled "Meeting the Challenges of Terrorism and Crime". Nine of our ten sister cities (Beijing, Budapest, Cairo, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Rome, Santo Domingo, and Tokyo), sent top level law enforcement officials to participate in this Summit.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly (front row center) with Chief Joanne Jaffe (first from left), Sister City Program corporate officers and international delegates.
The New York City Police Department provided not only an organizational partnership for this event, but in addition, the facilities in which it was held, transportation, translators, and most importantly, all of the presenters for this Summit were members of the Police Department.
The Summit furthered the program's goal of fostering partnerships among our sister cities in business, security and culture. This is a critical time in the war on terrorism in New York City and around the world. This Summit provided an important opportunity to share information and strategies with our partners in our Sister Cities as well as assist the security officials to promote an effective network among law enforcement agencies to prevent terrorism and crime.
The Summit keynote speaker was New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, who addressed participants on the new challenges presented by terrorism and NYPD's successful record in combating crime. With the support of the NYPD, the Summit included an in-depth security session with Deputy Commissioner Michael Sheehan of the NYPD's Counter Terrorism Bureau and Deputy Commissioner David Cohen of the Intelligence Division. The presentations on the second day were presided over by Chief Joseph Esposito, Chief of Department.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly addressing guests at Gracie Mansion.
An evening reception took place at Gracie Mansion for the Friends of the Sister City Program and Security Summit participants, hosted by Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, NYC Commissioner Marjorie B. Tiven and Sister City President, the Honorable Nancy E. Soderberg. Attendees included representatives of the Mayor's Office, senior NYPD officials, the Sister City Program Board, the NYC Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps and Protocol, representatives of NYC & Company, Ambassadors from our ten Sister City Permanent Missions to the United Nations, and the Consuls General from our ten Sister City countries.

Veronica Kelly accepting token of appreciation from Chief Ruan Zengyi of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.
On the second day, the participants to the Summit visited the New York City Police Museum and concluded the formal portion of the Summit with a catered luncheon on its premises.
Afterwards, the participants were also treated to a specialized tour of New York City from a policing perspective. Highlights of the tour included visits to: the New York Stock Exchange, the Empire State Building, and Times Square. As the tour bus winded through the various barricades and street closures towards the New York Stock Exchange, it became patently obviously that security is a top concern of lower Manhattan.