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NYPD Says They're Ready For Anything On And Around Election Day (Including More Overtime)
By
Danny Lewis
Published Oct 21, 2020
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Ron Adar/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
By
Danny Lewis
Published Oct 21, 2020
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When New Yorkers go to the polls to cast their ballot for President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden, uniformed NYPD officers will be there, and the department says they will be prepared for whatever happens after the votes are counted.
During a press conference reminiscent of the security briefings ahead of major events like New Year’s Eve or the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the NYPD’s top brass said they are preparing for higher-than-usual turnout and widespread unrest around Election Day. Chief of Department Terence Monahan said police officers will be stationed at all 1,200 polling sites in the five boroughs—as required by law, with additional teams ready and waiting in case of large demonstrations or violence.
“We will have hundreds of additional cops in uniform citywide who will be at the ready should they be needed,” said Monahan. “And each of these officers will be briefed daily with any information that might affect voting locations.”
Monahan and the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism, John Miller, stressed that there are currently no credible threats to public safety at the moment, and limited their comments to the ballot-casting, not what might happen afterwards.
“We don't expect any skirmishes. We don't expect any large demonstrations,” said Monahan. “We expect it to go like any other election does.”
The question of whether there will be protests around Election Day has been stoked for weeks by Trump’s repeated refusals to commit to accepting the results of the election if he loses to Biden. It’s also raised concerns about how the NYPD will handle potential demonstrations, given the brutality with which some officers responded to Black Lives Matter protests during the spring and summer, and the decision by the city’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association, to endorse President Trump.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he understood these concerns but defended the NYPD, arguing that officers are capable of putting their badges ahead of their political beliefs.
“Overwhelmingly, officers leave their politics at home and they go and do what has to be done to keep people safe and respect peaceful protests and any officer who can’t or won’t do that, we have to discipline and we have to address,” de Blasio said.
However, there’s another lingering question: how the cash-strapped city will pay for the overtime that these special response teams will likely accrue if there is widespread unrest around the election. While the recent city budget placed a cap on overtime—a cap the NYPD is already on track to exceed—Monahan said the NYPD will make adjustments as needed.
“Part of our budget is to make sure the city is safe. If we need to put personnel out there to make sure it's safe, it'll be part of the overtime budget that we have to work through,” Monahan said. “So we'll make adjustments elsewhere, but we're not going to cut down on having coverage out on the street and have to worry about the safety of people in New York.”
NYPD officers raked in about $115 million dollars in overtime pay during the first two weeks of protests after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd on Memorial Day. Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo has refused to set aside money that the state Board of Elections says is necessary to run the election, and is recommending that local officials ask for funding from Facebook instead.
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nypd
donald trump
joe biden
election day
Danny Lewis
Danny Lewis is a former Gothamist and WNYC reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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