New York City is taking serious precautions against any possible terrorist attack on New Year’s Eve.
The New York police department has deployed 65 sanitation and salt trucks around the perimeter of Times Square, in hopes of blocking a possible “lone wolf” terrorist from using cars or trucks to run into people in the crowd.
USA Today reports about 7,000 NYPD officers will also be deployed to guard Times Square festivities, roughly 1,000 more than last year.
The NYC police say there are no known credible threats to this year’s celebration, but emphasized that law enforcement remains “concerned about unaffiliated lone offenders” and “homegrown violent extremists” targeting the event.
“As we formulated this year’s plan, we paid close attention to world events and we learned from those events,” said NYPD Chief Carlos Gomez. “And this year, due to the terrorist attacks in Nice, France, and in Berlin, Germany, we’ve enhanced our security measures.”
The Berlin attack was led by a Tunisian man who plowed a stolen truck into a crowd, killing 12. A similar attack happened this year on Bastille Day in Nice, France, leaving 86 people dead.
These sorts of attacks have made law enforcement officials become increasingly wary of Islamic State sympathizers trying to carry out attacks on U.S. soil during the holiday. {eoa}
