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NYPD Will Station Officers At Every Polling Location, Though Protests Are Not Expected Over The Next 2 Weeks

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Ensuring the safety of New Yorkers while they vote is a top priority of the New York City Police Department, though disruptions are not expected to occur, Chief Terence Monahan said Tuesday.

Officers will be stationed at 1,201 polling locations across New York City on election day Nov. 3, Monahan said. Officers will be at the 88 locations in the city that will host early voting starting on Saturday, Monahan said.

“Currently we have no known threats of disruptions, and we do not expect any during the course of the next two weeks,” Monahan said at a press conference the NYPD posted online. “But let me be clear, the NYPD is fully prepared to protect every person’s right to vote.”

Monahan held a joint conference with NYPD Chief of Operations Race Spinella and NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller Tuesday afternoon.

WATCH as @NYPDChiefofDept, Chief Spinella, and Deputy Commissioner Miller discuss security plans for this year‘s election. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ccrlzr1yAP

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) October 20, 2020

Monahan said the NYPD would continue to facilitate peaceful protests leading up to election day.

“It is no secret that this election is more contentious than in years past. For that reason, our plan also includes the ability to respond to any type of incident that may occur,” Monahan said. “Planning for this did not begin yesterday.

Monahan said officers have received supplemental training and that they will be briefed daily on events occurring across the city.

“For 175 years, New York’s finest have kept this city safe through every type of major event imaginable,” Monahan said. “The next two weeks leading up to election day and beyond will be absolutely no different.”

Beginning Oct. 26, “hundreds” of officers will be on standby should they be needed, Monahan said.