The New York Civil Liberties Union is typically one of our city’s great defenders. But it seems that the NYCLU-led campaign against subway searches, which culminated in a much-publicized lawsuit last week, is turning out merely to be a great distraction.

Indeed, with so much focus on the bags going into the subways, I am afraid we’re taking our eye off the ball: doing what’s necessary and effective to keep New Yorkers safe from a London-style terrorist attack.

Given the dire threat we face, the real problem with these random bag searches is not their constitutionality but their extremely limited ability to deter a suicide bomber and protect our people.

Independent experts tell us there are many more important things the city can and should be doing to enhance our security. And instead of arguing about the largely symbolic bag search tactic, we should be demanding that the mayor and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority develop and implement a far more aggressive and comprehensive plan to reduce our vulnerabilities.

For example, it is beyond comprehension that we have not yet wired our underground tunnels and platforms for cell phone service, as many other cities around the world have, so that riders can dial 911 in an emergency and quickly connect with authorities above ground.

This is a simple yet effective way to empower our citizens and make them active partners in this fight, rather than just passive bystanders. That is the whole intent behind the MTA’s “See Something, Say Something” advertisement campaign. But thanks to the MTA’s tunnel vision, riders who see something can’t actually say something in any kind of timely fashion.

Sadly, New York’s elected officials suffer from the same kind of imagination gap, including my opponents in the public advocate’s race. A former NYCLU director, Norman Siegel, has adopted his old group’s send-in-the-lawyers approach to fighting terrorism. Even worse, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum’s approach is just to do nothing.

What they fail to understand is that the greatest tool in preventing a subway bombing may be the eyes, ears, and brains of the city’s 8 million residents. And we should be thinking proactively and creatively about how to deploy those assets and maximize their collective effectiveness for our collective benefit.

That’s why it’s so important to get 911 cell phone service working underground in our subways and to move as fast as possible to get all New Yorkers connected to the Internet. Robust communications networks are of far more benefit to the defenders than they are to the attackers.

Think back to how cell phones saved lives on September 11, 2001. Because the passengers on Flight 93 used their phones to communicate with air safety officials and family members on the ground, they were able to figure out that their predicament was no ordinary hijacking.

Though their lives were tragically lost, they saved untold thousands by preventing the terrorists from flying their plane into a Washington landmark such as the Capitol building.

And think of how important the Internet has been as our de-facto emergency broadcast network. On September 11, 2001, on July 7, 2005, and on several other days of crisis, many of us went online to find out the latest information – and in many cases to deliver that information as citizen-journalists. Meanwhile, television viewers were left with the same clips, repeated over and over.

That’s why the MTA’s initial decision to ban cell phone use in the vehicular tunnels was such a boneheaded move. It wasn’t just disconnecting people from their loved ones, it was shutting them off from homeland defense authorities and emergency personnel. Fortunately, that misguided move was at least partially reversed.

Now it’s time to move forward and push for enhanced communications systems for subway riders – whether they be low-tech, such as intercoms on trains and working public address systems on platforms, or high-tech, such as making it possible for cell phone users to dial 911 from underground.

And we should be taking the lead from neighbors such as Philadelphia – which is moving quickly to build a municipal wireless network that will connect every resident, at truly affordable prices, to the Internet – and offer free wireless access in public spaces. By enabling more people to connect at broadband speeds, we will be creating a much stronger system for sharing vital, even life-saving information.

We may never be able to stop a determined suicide bomber from hitting his target. But the same characteristics that make that kind of terrorist so powerful – his preparedness, flexibility, and determination – can make us even stronger if we decide to make maximum use of ours, and greatly decrease their odds of success.

To me, that’s the best way to protect our freedom and our security at the same time: harnessing the power of new tools and technologies to get New Yorkers connected and to bring our city into the 21st century.

Mr. Rasiej is a Democratic candidate for public advocate and the founder of the education technology nonprofit MOUSE.