A Police State
I was bikiing on the west side yesterday morning and this line of police cars came down the west side highway. It went on for at least three or four minutes.
There were at least 50 police cars in this motorcade and I never saw a SUV or some other car that was carrying the person they were protecting.
I have no idea what the reason was for the motorcade but it sure felt like overkill to me.
UPDATE: Lot's of good comments explaining what this was. It's a "hercules" practice session. I take back my comment about overkill. I am glad they do this.
I always thought it was a drill they do - practicing shifting resources from one part of the city to another. I've seen it quite a few times.
Posted by: Didi Simon | May 19, 2006 at 09:02 AM
Yeah, I agree with didi. I dont think it was a motorcade. I have seen mass deployments like this before. One time I asked a cop what they were doing and he said they do it sometimes to show a presence in a given area. They all go to a specific area and swarm. I am not sure I get the point, but I am pretty sure it is a deployment and not some kind of protective motorcade.
Posted by: hank williams | May 19, 2006 at 09:19 AM
It's a Hercules demonstration to practice getting a major police presence into a tight spot quickly as well as a show of strength.
Posted by: Charles Smith | May 19, 2006 at 09:22 AM
yep-- definitely sounds like hercules-- they pick a new spot a couple of times a week. i saw it up in midtown last week, and all the tourists were freaking out.
Posted by: Jake | May 19, 2006 at 09:55 AM
a practice run. So the next time NYC is attacked at least the cops and get out
Posted by: Mike More | May 19, 2006 at 10:08 AM
A buddy of mine, a NYPD out of Brooklyn, told me a couple of years ago that it's primarily logistics training.
Apparently it is pretty fascinating how they do it. It seems that folks in the Command and Control center simply point to a spot on a map and then dozens of units from another area are told to go to the designated area. The units have absolutely no warning whatsoever. And the whole exercise is so fast that they are only away from their daily patrol area for 20-30 minutes. It is a point of pride for the NYPD to move such a large quantity of resources in perfect order without as much as a hiccup to local services.
Posted by: Jim Parker | May 19, 2006 at 10:09 AM
Most of the time they "flood" likely target areas -=- Times Square, Wall Street, Columbus Circle are all common locations. It's also meant to be a show of force in high profile areas. I don't think "Hercules" is the right term -- that's the NYPD designation for special anti-terrorism teams, rather than the flooding activity itself. The NYT has covered this phenomenon in the past.
Posted by: Tom | May 19, 2006 at 10:21 AM
it came past me on broadway and grand late one night about a month ago - good to hear the explanations - it really was quite unnerving.
Posted by: mark | May 19, 2006 at 11:01 AM
We used to do those things monthly with the combat arms troops in Germany - called alerts. Pretty good training. We used to see how quickly the 8th Infantry Division artillery could get on the road to pick up their tactical nuclear weapons. DHS should probably be conducting drills to see how quickly they can get on the road with the bomb disposal gear. Maybe they are, but who sees them?
Posted by: cfw | May 19, 2006 at 12:03 PM
Fred, my office is 42nd and 2nd - every day at least we have one of these exercises go by - heading eithe to Times Square, Grand Central, or the UN - it's incredibly loud and impressive. Gives me a headache but I'm glad they practice it too.
Posted by: Tom W. | May 19, 2006 at 12:47 PM
I've asked about this before. The driving around part is important, but they're more practicing the parking once they get to a particular location. I've stood and watched before. It's like synchronize swimming for cop cars.
Posted by: Matt | May 19, 2006 at 01:57 PM
I now live on 34th St near the entrance to the midtown tunnel and see this here CONSTANTLY.
Cooler than that was when the circus elephants strolled by on their way to MSG, but that's a different story...
Posted by: Ken Berger | May 19, 2006 at 07:37 PM
Maybe an apology,as opposed to a "take back my comment' response
Posted by: john | May 20, 2006 at 09:56 AM
But maybe its an attempt to justify the enormous budget so it only increases, never decreases.
Still overkill. Still non-effective.
Posted by: yeahso | May 20, 2006 at 01:38 PM
Unnerving? A police state? Justifying a budget? Overkill? Noneffective? Why don't you guys get a life! I am proud of our NYPD and if these exercises are for them to improve then I am 100% behind them.
Posted by: Neil | May 20, 2006 at 03:44 PM
cops joyriding. what's new? the reason they do this is to make sure the proles stay in line. a show of strength? yes. against who or what? osama and crew? of course, not. against you. and me. and we. when the president starts dipping below 30%, you'll be seeing more of these 'shows of strength'. civil breach is going to happen eventually. no amount of television propaganda and no amount of police intimidation will be able to stop it.
cops are terrorists with badges. tell them to stop arresting people for asking directions, too.
http://www.badcopnodonut.fm/
Posted by: Peter | May 22, 2006 at 03:31 AM
Yeah, the police need to keep the proles like Fred in line!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Fred, nice crowd that you are attracting. Bring on la revolucion! Fidel! Fidel! Fidel!
Posted by: hey | May 23, 2006 at 01:58 PM