NYPD Unveils Plan To Protect New Yorkers During Elections: 'If Anyone Tries To Interfere With Anyone's Right To Vote, We Will Take Action'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD has unveiled a plan to protect the right of New Yorkers to vote, including units to detect cyber attacks, cope with demonstrations and protect polling places.
As CBS2's political reporter Marcia Kramer reports at this point, there are no threats.
Election 2020 could be one of the most momentous in history, and the NYPD has a plan to make sure it comes off without a hitch.
"No matter when, whether it's the election or earlier, if anyone tries to interfere with people's right to vote, we will take action," said NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan.
It's not just about protect the 1,201 polling places and 88 early voting sites, including the Barclays Center, Madison Square Garden and Lincoln Center. The NYPD also has a team to make sure election operations conducted on computers are safe.
"This election is being closely guarded against for cyber attacks," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller. "We will work with New York City Cyber Command, the FBI Cyber Division. We'll be running a cyber command post in the background."
WATCH: NYPD Briefing On Election Day Security
Monahan says several hundred cops will be at the ready to handle any demonstrations or problems at polling places. He said cops have been retrained and officials have studied the NYPD's response to demonstrations this past spring.
Like, for example, the Lower Manhattan demonstration in Foley Square that got increasingly chaotic, when crowds moved in around Brooklyn's Barclay's Center. Cell phone video captured a woman being pushed to the ground near Barclays. On social media the woman said unprovoked police brutality triggered a seizure.
"I wondered whether you looked at the way you responded to past demonstrations. What were the lessons learned? What will you do differently?" Kramer asked.
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"We want to be able to respond quickly, get our personnel to scenes faster, that's the main mission," Monahan said. "A lot of cops had not received disorder trainings since they first came on the job, so it was important that we retrain these police officers in just the basics of disorder control training."
The NYPD also has contingency plans in case there are any demonstrations at Trump Tower.
Early voting begins at select locations in New York City on Saturday. Voters can also submit absentee ballots.
To find your early voting or election day poll site in New York City, click here.
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