SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN) – Countries around the world are on high alert to protect revellers as they count down to the new year.
Asia – Police leave nothing to chance
Revellers in Asian cities will be partying tonight under the watchful eyes of their police and military.
Indonesia, which has been on an offensive against suspected terrorists, is leaving nothing to chance after a series of bloody raids around the country in the past month.
Police spokesman Martinus Sitompul said that security is always stepped up during the festive season. “But this time around, it is special because we have had a record number of terrorist raids during the immediate period leading to the 2017 New Year’s Eve celebration,” he told reporters at a media briefing.
French security personnel standing guard in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on December 30. – AFP
A pedestrian asks for directions from two heavily armed counterterrorism officers stationed in Times Square, New York. Police say they are up to the challenge of protecting the huge crowds expected to gather in and around Times Square to ring in the New Year 2017. – AP
“The police have things under control, but we cannot be 100 per cent confident that there won’t be any disturbance. We can do our utmost, relying on our personnel and equipment, to try to guarantee that the New Year’s Eve celebration will take place safely and peacefully.”
Jakarta police will be paying special attention to a few key areas: The Ancol park where 270,000 partygoers are expected to congregate, the roads around Thamrin Road and Sudirman Road, and a few areas outside the city centre where crowds are expected.
More than 155,000 police, soldiers and security personnel will be deployed, and the number could increase depending on the situation, said Colonel Martinus.
Both federal and state police have also been on high alert in Malaysia since before Christmas. Security has been beefed up at malls, entertainment outlets, houses of worship and embassies – places seen as symbolic targets for militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria.
However, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the government was trying “not to have too much physical presence in public and focus more on prevention”, as “people should feel free to enjoy their holidays”.
Similarly, Philippine security officials have been on maximum alert since President Rodrigo Duterte declared a “state of emergency on account of lawless violence” following a terrorist attack that left 14 dead in Davao on September 2.
Police have set up mobile checkpoints across metropolitan Manila’s 17 cities. Police chief Ronald dela Rosa has cancelled all police breaks from 5pm Saturday to 5am Sunday. Security forces have been deployed around bus terminals, train stations, airports and piers, as millions leave the cities to head to the provinces.
In Thailand, some 100,000 police officers will be patrolling the streets nationwide, especially in crowded tourist spots. They have prepared the SWAT team, medics, explosive ordnance experts as well as aerial back-up to deal with emergencies. Deputy police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen told The Straits Times: “We haven’t received any intelligence that would lead to a security situation. We remain vigilant.”
In India’s financial capital of Mumbai, the 55,000-strong police force has set up barricades to check vehicles entering areas popular with revellers. “Every police officer will be deployed. We are targeting grounds, open spaces and areas where there is a large gathering of crowds. We have also newly installed CCTV cameras in many places,” said Mumbai police official Ashok Tulshiram Dudhe.
United States – Preventing truck attacks with a cordon of trucks
US police are using a new tactic in the wake of recent terror attacks involving trucks in Nice and Berlin – big trucks in a protective ring.
A cordon of water trucks will be placed around Pasadena’s Rose Parade in California. In New York, more than 100 garbage trucks and other vehicles, many filled with sand, will form a protective barrier around Times Square, where well over a million people are expected to gather for a traditional countdown party tonight.
There will be strict controls including personal searches at all entry points, and 7,000 police officers are on standby.
In Pasadena, some 1,500 police officers in uniform as well as civilian clothes will be deployed over the nearly 9km route of the annual New Year’s Day parade.
The New York Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security say there is no “specific, credible threat” to the Times Square party, but they “remain concerned about unaffiliated lone offenders and home-grown violent extremists targeting the event”.
Performers for the Times Square event include Rachel Platten, Gloria Estefan and Mariah Carey.
“What I want everyone to take away from our preparation is this: People will be safe this New Year’s Eve because we are there along with our law enforcement partners,” New York Police Commissioner James O’Neill said this week.
“We are going to have one of the most well-policed, best-protected events in one of the safest venues in the entire world.”
Europe – Armed police, barricades and bans to deter threats
European countries are sending out their police and military forces to make sure that New Year’s Day is welcomed without a hitch.
With countries like Britain, France, Belgium and Germany all on high alert for terror threats, security agencies are pulling out all the stops to protect revellers as they count down to the new year.
On Tuesday, French police arrested a man in the south-west of the country who was suspected of planning an attack on New Year’s Eve.
France has deployed more than 90,000 soldiers and police officers during the festive season to patrol tourist areas, transport hubs and busy streets. It has been on high alert since January last year, after it was struck by a series of terrorist attacks claimed by the IS in Iraq and Syria.
In Germany, the authorities are beefing up security for New Year’s Eve celebrations in the capital city, after a deadly truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market last week.
“This year, what is new is that we will place concrete blocks and position heavy armoured vehicles at the entrances” of the celebration zone, a Berlin police spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
Security forces with machine guns will guard the celebration areas, though the number of officers on duty is similar to last year’s 1,000 or so. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected at the celebrations near the 18th century Brandenburg Gate. Backpacks, large bags, glass bottles and pyrotechnics are banned.
Similar bans will be in force in two of Belgium’s largest cities, Brussels and Antwerp. In March, the country came under siege from suicide bombers, who killed 32 people and injured more than 300.
Special agents will be stationed at crowded areas with planned large-scale firework displays, a source told Xinhua news agency.
In London, where more than 100,000 people are expected along the banks of the Thames River to catch the New Year’s Eve fireworks, thousands of police officers, some armed, will stand by.
Around 3,000 officers will patrol inside and outside the ticketed areas to the firework display.
Security at Christmas markets, tourist areas and train stations have already been tightened.
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