NYPD to use sharpshooters, bomb-sniffing dogs to secure Israel parade

New York City’s police said there will be bomb-sniffing dogs, sharpshooters on rooftops and radiation detection devices to protect the annual parade along Fifth Avenue.

By: World Israel News Staff and AP

The New York City Police Department is taking no chances with a parade celebrating Israel’s 70th anniversary in light of tensions overseas.

Police say there were no specific threats against the parade that starts at 11 a.m. Sunday from 57th Street and proceeds up Fifth Avenue. But security will be tight, including more than 1,000 officers, bomb-sniffing dogs, sharpshooters on rooftops and radiation detection devices. Sanitation trucks filled with sand will block streets to prevent vehicle attacks.

NYPD Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison says the precautions are in response to threats of terrorism in Israel, the Middle East and around the world. Police also are bracing for anti-Israel demonstrations.

The parade marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel.

Dani Dayan, Consul General of Israel in New York ,told Army Radio Sunday morning that he was expecting tens of thousands of participants in two separate events marking Israel’s 70th anniversary.

The first event was the annual parade along Fifth Avenue.

The second event, the first of its kind, was a video production about Israel that will appear on the huge screens in Times Square on Sunday evening.

Dayan estimated that there were hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in the greater New York area.