The NYPD is getting prepared for the possibility of an increase in protests that may spring up throughout the city in the days and weeks before and after Election Day.
According to a memo from a senior department official, most officers will be required to report for duty in uniform and should be ready to deploy starting Oct. 25. That instruction includes many members of the department who don't ordinarily work in uniform, such as detectives.
The NYPD anticipates that any protests that occur will grow in size, frequency and intensity both before and after Nov. 3, lasting all the way into the beginning of next year, the memo read.
The memo from Commissioner Dermot Shea notes that this year's election will be "one of the most highly contested presidential elections in the modern era." It also said that there "is a strong likelihood that the winner of the presidential election may not be decided for several weeks."
