Machine Gun-Toting Officers To Patrol NYC Subway
M4 Carbine Rifles, MP5 Submachine Guns & Bomb Sniffing Dogs Part Of New "Torch Team" Anti-Terror Efforts
Magee Hickey
NEW YORK (CBS) ― More protection against terrorists is coming to a subway station near you. Starting Thursday, special bomb teams, known as "Torch Teams," will be toting submachine guns and bringing bomb-sniffing dogs onto the platforms and into the trains. CBS 2 HD was out first thing Thursday morning on the lookout for these significant security measure improvements.
It's a first for mass transit in the United States. NYPD officers, armed with rifles, submachine guns, body armor and bomb-sniffing dogs will begin patrolling the city's subway system thanks to a 50 percent increase in a homeland security grant.
The city's massive subway system has long been considered a potential terror target. Six officers and a dog will constitute a team, patrolling all platforms and trains in 12-hour shifts. The "Torch Teams" will be toting MP5 submachine guns and M4 Carbine rifles that are used by Navy seals and FBI hostage-rescue teams. The teams are being paid for by $151 million from the Feds.
Similarly equipped NYPD units, known as "Hercules Teams," have patrolled Wall Street, the Empire State Building and other aboveground city landmarks for years as a response to the World Trade Center attacks.
A police official likened the "Torch Teams" to "Hercules Teams" with MetroCards. In this age of heightened security, commuters and keen canines will share the underground world of mass transit.
"It's a very good idea. It's like a deterrent. It's going to make me feel safer, much safer, yes it will. It's a good idea," said commuter Patricia Knight Williams.
"It's a very good idea. It's like a deterrent. It's going to make me feel safer, much safer, yes it will. It's a good idea," said commuter Patricia Knight Williams.
Must...fight...programming...
It's just another step in the conditioning of the people to accept military forces policing the people.
It's already common to see armed soldiers at JFK airport and Penn Station (NYC major RR hub). Every time I go to either of those places there are soldiers all over, and toting automatic weapons at JFK.
Its pure intimidation and show, to hint that something is going to happen and we need John Rambo in the Subways, they did this at UK airports but used Tanks! very.
