Heavy Police Presence Expected for the 2015 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City

HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE FOR MACY’S DAY PARADE IN WAKE OF ISIS TERROR ATTACKS IN PARIS …

In the wake of the terror attacks in Paris, there is a expected to be a heavy police presence at this years Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Snoopy, Hello Kitty, SpongeBob and the Kool-Aid dude will be well protected by by a multitude of levels of security . Despite the pre-parade terror jitters, New York officials are expecting huge crows up to 3.5 million spectators in the parades 89th year.

As an expected three million spectators turn their eyes skyward on Thursday morning, police sharpshooters on rooftops will be peering down for any signs of trouble at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

In addition to Snoopy and SpongeBob floating overhead, there will be mobile cameras and police helicopters, specially trained police dogs sniffing for traces of explosives and officers patrolling on horseback, said James P. O’Neill, the New York Police Department’s chief of department, its highest-ranking uniformed officer.

Observation posts, staffed by officers from the elite Emergency Service Unit, will be watching for suspicious activity; officers will use radiation detectors to seek out evidence of a dirty bomb; and teams of plainclothes officers will mix unobtrusively with revelers spread along the two and a half miles of the Manhattan parade route between 9 a.m. and noon.

“There will be a lot of police presence,” said Chief O’Neill, outlining elements of the department’s security measures at a briefing this week.

“Things the public will see and, of course, things the public will not see,” he said. “All of this will ensure that New York City has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving, as we do every year.”

With a record parade crowd expected, William J. Bratton, the police commissioner, said there would be more officers on duty than in the past. He encouraged people to “come on down” to see the parade, free from the anxieties the Paris attacks have sown, and to pitch in as extra eyes for law enforcement.

“There is no threat being directed against the parade,” Mr. Bratton said.

Joshua Campbell, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, echoed that, saying in an email, “There remains no specific or credible threat to the homeland.”