NYPD Surging Cops To Streets In Light of Credible Terror Threat

The NYPD is out in force today (and through the weekend and beyond) as a result of a credible terror threat on the eve of the anniversary of 9/11. Investigators are trying to track down at least three men believed to be involved in a "vehicle-borne" terrorist attack anticipated in NYC or Washington D.C. to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11. According to some sources, the three men traveled by plane to the U.S. last month from Afghanistan and that one of the men is an American citizen. ABC reports that two of the individuals may have had U.S. documentation, and that they came from tribal areas (the NWFP, Waziristan - the same region along the Afghan-Pakistani border), where the threat intelligence originated.

Commissioner Ray Kelly spelled out that police officers would be working 12 hour shifts rather than 8 hour rotations, increasing the number of cops on the street by 1/3.

Cops are manning vehicle checkpoints all over the City, but especially in Manhattan. There's been a checkpoint on Broadway near Wall Street for years (for southbound traffic), but now there's one on Church Street in the same vicinity for all northbound traffic. Additional checkpoints are likely to spring up at locations all around the city, including at or near bridges and tunnels.

All kinds of sensor equipment has been installed around Lower Manhattan, air sensors, additional cameras, etc.

There's apparently two distinct threats involved here - one for a car/truck bomb in New York City or Washington DC, and one directed against NYC area bridges and tunnels.