Summary Writing Task Uniform Response

question_id: 868

Uniform Response

For the first time outside of New York City, an exhibition showing the emergency response to the 11 September 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks is on display at the Victoria Police Museum.

When two planes crashed into New York’s World Trade Centre towers, people everywhere felt the city’s anguish.

For police in Victoria, while they were far away from Ground Zero, their thoughts were with the emergency services who were first to go in to assist. Almost 3000 people died during the attacks, 23 of whom worked for the New York Police Department, 37 from the Port Authority and New Jersey police departments, and 343 from the New York Fire Department. They were the first responders.

The scenes that followed, showing images of people fleeing the site and emergency services heading in, showed their determination to get as many people out as possible.

Over a decade later, these images are still poignant and can now be seen in Australia for the first time in the 9/11: A Uniform Response exhibition at the Victoria Police Museum.

Marking the 11th anniversary of the terror attacks, the exhibition features images taken by award-winning Associated Press photographers depicting the morning of the attacks, the courageous response in the days and weeks afterwards, the recovery and the building of 1 World Trade Centre.

As part of the exhibit, the New York Police Department and all the first responders are honoured in the photographs capturing the horror as people raced from the collapsing north tower, dust-covered New Yorkers making their way through the debris and more.

The New York City Police Museums’ Executive Director Julie Bose said she was delighted that the exhibition would be shown in Melbourne. “We hope the exhibit offers visitors a chance to remember the courage and bravery that the first responders showed the world that day,” she said.

Eleven years ago, police from across Victoria donated money to send the Blue Ribbon Foundation’s Constable T Bear toys and messages of support to the families of police who died on 9/11.

The idea came from St.Kilda Police Station’s Leading Senior Constable Matthew Griffiths. “We want to do something for the emergency service workers,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if a police member dies in your street or in another country, you instantly have empathy. It gives you a reality check on life. “I wanted to try to make it better for the kids of the police who tried to help on the day and didn’t come home to their families.”