Local Police Departments Take Precautions Following Deadly Shooting Of Cops In Brooklyn
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) - New Jersey's state police union has issued an email alert to the group's 33,000 members warning them to take extra caution after two NYPD officers were murdered.
New Jersey State PBA Executive Vice President Marc Kovar said in the email Sunday morning that all members and officers should take extra caution and change up routines in the coming weeks.
He cites heightened hostility from nationwide protests that he says has led to a "fever pitch of anti-police sentiment."
"This open hostility has created more tense encounters with officers even on routine incidents such as motor vehicle stops," the alert reads.
Kovar also advised officers to be vigilant for potential ambushes after two NYPD officers were ambushed and shot to death in Brooklyn Saturday.
As NJ.com reported, the Newark Police Department will take single officer-units off of the streets, according to the union president.
"The Newark Fraternal Order of Police is primarily concerned with the safety of the officers in the street," James Stewart, the president of the union, said late Saturday. "In the climate we face today there is nothing more important. We are happy the Director agrees with our view and is putting the safety of the men and women in the street above all else."
On Long Island, police in Nassau and Suffolk County will be taking precaution in the wake of the murders.
As Newsday reported, Suffolk County cops have been instructed 'to maintain a heightened level of awareness,' police said in a statement. There was not believed to be a specific threat.
Nassau County police will also be taking appropriate precautions, a spokesman said.
Police say 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley killed two officers in Bedford-Stuyvesant after vowing online to shoot two officers in retaliation for the police chokehold death of Eric Garner. Another police officer was shot and killed in Florida Sunday morning.
The union says officers should be alert for any interaction where someone may be looking for a confrontation.
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