The Peachtree City Police Department

activated extra patrols in sensitive areas such as local schools and industries

Tuesday morning in light of the alleged terrorist attacks occurring across

the country.

Police Chief James Murray said

the department has a plan it follows for situations like this.

"There are some industries

and places in the city that are deemed vulnerable," Murray said.

"We are patrolling the schools and walking though them so we can

have some kinds of comfort level here."

The heightened awareness of

the department is also partially due to the fact that "Peachtree

City is an airline community," Murray noted.

Murray said he hoped things

calmed down soon, "but you can never tell with terrorists."

The department will be prepared

to assist other agencies if necessary, Murray added.

"If we are called to help

in other areas, we will respond to that," Murray said.

The Citizen was unable to contact

officials with the Federal Aviation Administration to discover the status

of the Atlanta TRACON air traffic control facility south of Peachtree

City. A message left for media representatives at the FAA's public affairs

office says only that all airline flights across the country have been

grounded. All flights which were airborne at the time were told to land

at any available airport, said Kathleen Bergin of the FAA's public affairs

office.

The TRACON facility is responsible

for directing aircraft traffic around the Atlanta area and is a state-of-the-art,

high-security building.

At its busiest, Atlanta TRACON

works with 80 to 90 aircraft at one time in the 40-mile radius around

Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, according to FAA officials.

The air traffic controllers there also direct traffic at nearby small

airports, including Falcon Field in Peachtree City.

Atlanta TRACON handles all

air traffic in the area below the 14,000-foot level. Last year, it handled

more than 1.1 million operations. It is the largest such facility in the

country that covers just one airport.

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