On 9/11/2001, I was the police chief in Pasadena. I received a call from the woman who would later become my wife telling me to turn on my television. The first plane had hit the World Trade Center and as we were watching, the second plane hit. It was very clear that we were under attack. I went immediately to work and began the process of sorting through what the impact of this would be on the city I served. We were deluged with both questions from the public and input from the FBI, all of which was confused.
My greatest memory of that day came from the second stop I made after the Police Department. In Pasadena, we had an Islamic school. I had assigned a radio car to go park in the school’s driveway to make sure that nothing bad happened. I visited the school later that morning and was worried about it receiving threats or vandalism. Instead I was told that they had been inundated with calls asking how people could help.
On such a horrible day, to be reminded of the goodness that people usually possess, was incredibly inspiring.
Barney Melekian
Santa Barbara
