NYPD expecting another safe J'Ouvert festival

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - For the last two years, the J’Ouvert festivities have been free of violence and the NYPD says that it is expecting more of the same this year.

Thousands of NYPD officers will be working during the enormous street party celebrating all things Caribbean, along with response teams from the emergency service unit, the strategic response group, critical response command and officers on bicycles will be staged in and around the route. 

“There will literally be a cop everywhere, doing what they do best. Keeping neighborhoods safe,” said Terence Monahan, the NYPD’s Chief of Department.

The festival will have 13 secure entry points and participants and spectators will be screened. Sixty surveillance cameras will be temporarily installed in the coming days, providing police with real-time visuals of any emergencies that may occur. 

The NYPD has had a significant presence at the parade and the pre-dawn festival that precedes it due to shootings, stabbings and killings in years past. 

The festivities begin at 6 a.m. on September 2, and authorities say they expect one million attendees.