Vegas, New York mobilize security
LAS VEGAS — With their rifles at the ready for an active shooter, Sgt. Charles Jivapong and half a dozen other police officers moved quickly through an industrial building not far from the Las Vegas airport, trying to determine which victims were alive and which were too far gone to be saved.
This time, it was a drill. But Jivapong remembers when it was real: Less than three months ago, he responded to reports of gunfire aimed at thousands of people at a country-music concert. On Sunday night, Jivapong will be out with his officers once again, this time with more than 300,000 revelers celebrating the start of 2018. “It’s not really a matter of it happens again, more like
he said. “Something like that really changes your perspective and mindset. It weighs heavily. I find myself scanning overhead all the time, thinking about what will happen if we have to do it all over.”
Las Vegas is preparing for its first New Year’s Eve since the Oct. 1 shooting, when Stephen Paddock shot hundreds of rounds from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing more than 50 people and wounding hundreds of others. For decades, Dec. 31 has been the biggest night of the year in Las Vegas, drawing tourists from all over the world who come to party with abandon on the Strip.
Security has always been a concern; officials say they begin preparing for the next year on Jan. 2. But this year, the preparations have taken on a more somber and urgent tone. In trainings and drills, officers are being urged to consider the possibility of shootings from elevated positions. They are coordinating with medical personnel from the fire department, forming teams that will be ready to respond on the Strip and downtown if there is a mass attack.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials have classified the night as a top safety priority, sending snipers who will be poised on hotel rooftops, helicopters with tactical security forces, and a hostage rescue team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. National Guard officers will be stationed throughout the area, including at the nearby airport.
For years, the Las Vegas Las Vegas Police Officer David Garris, left, and Sgt. Charles Jivapong take part in a drill imagining an active shooter in a building on Dec. 18, less than three months after an attack on a country-music concert. Metropolitan Police Department had lobbied federal officials to give New Year’s Eve a top special-event assessment rating, which would provide the city with federal officers and resources such as intelligence and helicopter teams. A few weeks after the October shooting, the police department got word that it would receive the rating for the first time this year.
“We need to be able to focus on multiple shooters, on one or more above ground — we’ve got to multiply our forces,”
said Police Chief Chris Jones, who is overseeing the department’s preparations.
Jones said he could not give specific details of precisely how officers would be deployed, but estimated that there would be more than 5,000 local and federal officers along the Strip. Nearly the entire length — roughly 4 miles — will be closed to traffic.
About 330,000 visitors are expected on the Strip for New Year’s Eve, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which puts on a fireworks show from seven roofs and is billing the event as “America’s Party.” The number is down slightly from last year.
The Las Vegas shooting has prompted the New York Police Department to reassess its New Year’s preparations as well, with the city, and Times Square in particular, long considered likely targets.
Each New Year’s Eve, the New York Police Department, and its counterparts in state and federal law enforcement, face anew the job of securing the highly symbolic spot where the ball drops amid as many as 1 million spectators packed together.
This year, police will send rooftop observation teams and countersnipers into more buildings.
James P. O’Neill, the New York City police commissioner, attributed the stepped-up security in part to recent terrorist attacks in New York City, including the attempted suicide bombing in a subway corridor under Times Square on Dec. 11.