NYPD officials said Tuesday that they expect no major upheaval the night of or following the election.
Chief of Department Terrence Monahan told reporters they have intelligence indicating any credible threat that tonight demonstrations could turn destructive in the fashion experienced in May and June, despite many businesses throughout the five boroughs boarding up windows in anticipation of looting.
“As the night goes on, we will continue to have thousands of additional cops at the ready and our joint operations center will be orchestrating any responses in disseminating any information from our intelligence bureau to our cops in the field,” Monahan said.
According to Monahan, that does not mean the streets will be empty of demonstrators which they expect to be peaceful and expressed a commitment to work with those organizers.
As for the possibility that NYPD could re-establish “frozen zones” in the city, Monahan said they have plans but do not expect it will be necessary.
“Something that we do not expect to have to utilize, but taking what we have seen during May and June, we’ve put together plans similar to what was seen in Times Square during that period,” Monahan continued. “If we need to implement it, we’ll give you further instruction of what we’re going to do but we do not expect to have to.”
This message comes just hours after NYPD responded to an incident at a Brooklyn poll site where Trump supporters were reported to be haranguing voters in Brooklyn.
Giving no specific acknowledgment to incidents yesterday of large caravans of Trump supporters blocking the Whitestone Bridge, the NYPD officials reiterated their statement that peaceful protestors would be protected, while disruptors would not be tolerated on the streets.
Apart from that, Monahan reported that it had — so far — proven to be a quiet Election Day with medium to light turnout at poll sites across the city.
NYPD officials said they would continue to monitor social media for signs that tensions would escalate throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.
