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Record 7,000 Police Officers Will Patrol Times Square NYE Celebration

Chris WhiteDec 31st, 2016, 5:55 pm
 


Those ringing in the New Year at New York City’s famous Time Square Ball Drop tonight will be surrounded by a record number of police officers, according to a new report.

Upwards of 7,000 police officers will be deployed around Times Square tonight, some in uniform and others in plain clothes or in an undercover capacity.  The NYPD counterterrorism unit will also be out among the one-million partiers expected to pack into Time Square on Saturday night.

NBC News is also reporting that NYPD security measures will include the use if large dump trunks filled with sand to block off the streets for blocks surrounding the area where the 12-foot diameter ball, weighing nearly 12,000 pounds will slowly drop to ring in the New Year.  Similar measures with use of sand filled dump trucks were used to surround Trump Tower after his Election Day victory back in November.

This year’s Ball is made up of 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles connected to 672 LED modules, with each LED module containing 48 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs – 12 red, 12 blue, 12 green, and 12 white — totaling  32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs, 8,064 of each color.

They’ve come along way since the first Times Square Ball Drop in 1907. The first Ball dropped at Times Square was made of wood and iron, covered with 100 light bulbs and weighed only 700 pounds.

In addition to the police presence, concrete carriers and temporary fencing have also been erected all over the area to make the 2016 — 2017 Ball Drop the safest ever.

The NYPD also released its own video explaining the some of the security measures it has in place to keep partygoers safe and what to expect if you are headed down to Times Square:

[image via screengrab]

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