After Brussels Terror Attack, New York Police Increase Security Following Belgium Bombings

With at least two dozen people dead after a series of bombings by terrorists in Brussels, the New York Police Department said Tuesday more counterterrorism officers were being deployed across the city and that police officials were closely monitoring the situation.

New York police are also in contact with its “international partners,” as well as the FBI. An NYPD spokesman said on Twitter that the Counterterrorism Response Command, the Strategic Response Group and the Hercules Team, a heavily armed police unit, have been deployed throughout the city.

“These teams have been deployed to crowded areas and transit locations around the city out of an abundance of caution to provide police presence and public reassurance as we closely follow the developing situation overseas,” the NYPD said in a statement.

New York Police said that as of Tuesday morning, there was no indication of any threat to the city regarding the attack in Brussels. The NYPD also said that the Brussels attack shows that cuts to federal anti-terror funding should not go through.

“These attacks come at a time when the federal government has proposed cutting terrorism funding to New York City by roughly $90 million,” the statement read. “Any cut in terrorism funding to New York — to what is widely recognized as the nation’s top terror target — would be irresponsible.”

New York City leaders last month decried a proposed cut to anti-terror funding. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio testified this month before the House Homeland Security subcommittee against the cuts, saying it would hurt the ability of police in the city to deal with possible terror attacks.

In recent years, the NYPD has stopped about 20 terrorist plots, de Blasio said. New York City has been on high alert for terrorist attacks since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Tuesday’s terror attacks in Belgium occurred at Brussel’s international airport and a city metro station, forcing the city to increase its terror threat to the highest level.