Obama thanks NYPD officers in Times Square bomb case

President Barack Obama came to police headquarters in Manhattan Thursday to thank police officers who broke the Times Square case and walked away with his own NYPD jacket.

During a 10-minute visit to the computerized NYPD Real Time Crime Center, Obama shook hands and thanked over three dozen officers and detectives for breaking the case that led to the arrest of suspect Faisal Shahzad.

"Look, I know folks are busy, but I just want to come by and say thanks," said Obama, after shaking hands with all the officers who staff the center. "You guys are a model for everybody else," said Obama.

Since it opened in 1972, Obama is only the second president - the first was George W. Bush in 2002 - to visit police headquarters, Kelly noted later.

Afterward, Obama, wearing a jacket with the letters "NYPD," met privately with the officers who were actually on duty the evening of May 1 when the car bomb was discovered.

Among the two-dozen men and women personally thanked by Obama was mounted officer Wayne Rhatigan of Holbrook, who worked quickly with his mount to push Times Square crowds away from the car bomb.

"A pleasure," was how an admittedly nervous Rhatigan described the visit with Obama. "He said 'thanks,' just like he said to any officer in the room."

Moments earlier in the crime center, Obama was briefed by NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Insp. Ken McKeel, commander of the crime center. The center, which started in 2005, relies on a massive storehouse of data that enables commanders to get quick information about a crime in progress. Maps and video links are displayed on large screens.

Obama said he told Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was also present in the crime center, that the work done by the NYPD on counterterrorism was a model for the rest of the country.

Obama also promised to help make sure the city gets the resources it needs to continue its effort, but didn't mention anything about federal funding, which is being cut in some areas. Later, Kelly told reporters that he didn't talk about funding with Obama, but said the city needs money to continue its efforts.