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New York eyes Mumbai attack in New Year's security
2008-12-31
NEW YORK (AFP) - New York police studied the November bloodbath in Mumbai as they prepared heavy security for Wednesday's New Year celebrations, police commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Police face a major security headache with up to a million people -- including former president Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton -- expected in Manhattan's Times Square for the traditional dropping of the crystal ball at midnight. Kelly said that in addition to standard patrols there would be watchtowers and teams with radiation and biological detection equipment. Backpacks and alcohol will be banned in the area, the police department announced. "You'll see a lot of uniformed officers. As I said, you'll see a lot of our equipment on display," he told CNN television. "What you won't see is officers in plain clothes. We have what we call a counter-terrorism overlay. We'll have a lot of observation posts that will be manned. We have our helicopters in the air." The city police chief said the Mumbai attacks, in which 172 people were killed during a rampage by a handful of well-trained gunmen, had been an important lesson. "We sent people to Mumbai. We got very specific information as to what happened there. We'll make some adjustments that may not -- the public may not see.... We've learned from Mumbai," Kelly said. An additional layer of security will be provided by the Secret Service which gives round-the-clock protection to the Clintons. Hillary Clinton, a senator for New York state, has been picked by incoming president Barack Obama as his nominee for secretary of state. The couple have been asked by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to press the button starting the crystal ball. The ball, which is covered in 2,668 crystals, takes 60 seconds to slide down a column while the crowd shouts out the final countdown to the new year.
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