Video: Upcoming Papal Visit Presents "Largest Security Challenge Ever" for NYPD
Officials said thousands of officers, from the local to federal levels and including the Secret Service, will be deployed for both the papal visit and the General Assembly, and surveillance technology will be used, including cameras and explosives and radiation detection devices, as well as traditional K-9 units.
New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton says Pope Francis' upcoming visit during the United Nations General Assembly, when 90 percent of the world leaders--including President Obama--will be in the city at the same time, is going to be "the largest security challenge the department and this city have ever faced."
Bratton said the NYPD, working in partnership with federal law enforcement and multiple other agencies, is prepared for the challenge and that "we'll have a safe event for all those who are coming."
"We have the finest police force anywhere in this nation, anywhere in this world," added Mayor Bill de Blasio. "This police force has seen it all and is ready for it all."
Officials said thousands of officers, from the local to federal levels and including the Secret Service, will be deployed for both the papal visit and the General Assembly, and surveillance technology will be used, including cameras and explosives and radiation detection devices, as well as traditional K-9 units.
The officials held what they called a "multi-agency coordination group tabletop exercise" for the papal visit, which is Sept. 24 to 26, to review strategy for an array of possible security scenarios, NBC New York reports.
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