Operation Torch – Anti Terror Police Take To New York Subways
April 24, 2008 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
Operation Torch – Part of New York City’s new effort to better defend against terrorism will include the introduction of machine-gun toting NYPD “Torch Teams” in the city’s subways.
In addition to the automatic weapons, the teams will also be patrolling subways with bomb-sniffing dogs. They will be outfitted with body armor as well. Beginning Thursday they will board trains and patrol platforms in Penn Station, Rockefeller Center, and Times Square.
The teams are a first for mass transit in the U.S., made possible in large part by a 50 percent increase in a homeland security grant.
Other NYPD units, called “Hercules Teams,” are similarly equipped and have patrolled Wall Street in the past, as well as the empire state building and other above-ground landmarks in the city, following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
