Logan to house terrorism task force

“It’s one new level of security for this airport, and for the country,’’ said Edward Freni, Massport’s director of aviation. “It has the physical presence for all agencies here to respond and communicate quickly.’’

Officials said travelers will see no changes at the airport, they will not be affected directly, and existing investigatory policies will remain in place. Task force members will also continue to conduct outside investigations. But the officials stressed that the ability of task force members to be based in one central place will enhance the group’s ability to cooperate and communicate more quickly, a focus point that was identified after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

“It is essential to have all our partners here together,’’ said Richard DesLauriers, FBI special agent-in-charge of the Boston bureau. “No one agency can accomplish this important task alone.’’

George Naccara, security director for the US Transportation Security Administration office, added that the center is the latest strategy to remedy vulnerabilities - in this case lack of communication - that were identified following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Logan, from which two of the hijacked planes used in the attacks originated, has initiated dozens of security programs since then, becoming the first major US airport, for instance, to meet a federally mandated deadline to screen all luggage for explosives. Massport, which runs Logan, established in 2002 the Center of Excellence, a real-world laboratory to test new security technology at the airport. That same year, Logan started testing Behavior Pattern Recognition, an Israeli questioning technique used to identify suspicious travelers.

In June 2003, the airport became the first in the country to have police armed with automatic weapons: State Police started carrying MP-5 submachine guns at Logan.