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NYPD: War would lead to higher securityPlan calls for more police on streets, combat air patrols
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The New York City Police Department said Sunday that it will boost security throughout the city if the United States goes to war with Iraq. The plan, dubbed Operation Atlas, calls for more police officers to patrol the streets and for military aircraft to fly overhead. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has briefed Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the plan, said Michael O'Looney, the mayor's spokesman. Atlas would cost the city more than $5 million per week, police said. The operation would include heavily armed elite units called Hercules, which have been deployed during the past few months to deter terrorists attacks, and another elite group called Archangel, which was created to fight feared millennium terror threats. Other units, known as Hammer teams, would deal mainly with incidents involving hazardous materials. These teams would be made up of police and fire department personnel. The plan also calls for the military to fly combat air patrols and for the Federal Aviation Administration to restrict airspace over Manhattan, O'Looney said. The expanded police patrols would focus on sites considered vulnerable to terrorist attacks, such as houses of worship, government buildings and hotels and bridges and tunnels, police said. Asked Sunday about Operation Atlas, Bloomberg said, "We will have plenty of opportunities to express to the public that they should feel comforted when they see additional police protection on the streets. It shouldn't be scary. Quite the contrary." Asked about the impact of the increase in security on the city's budget, Bloomberg said he was optimistic that Washington would "come through" with aid.
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