With ISIS Making threats and the deadly October Las Vegas shooting still fresh in the minds of Americans, Las Vegas officials are adding snipers and a strong National Guard presence to oversee New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sin City.
According to CNN, the National Guard presence will double in comparison to previous years, and snipers will be on rooftops surveying the New Year’s Eve celebration revelers.
Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said that “1,500-plus” police officers will be deployed in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday.
“I’m confident every available resource is being used to make sure this New Year’s Eve will be safe,” Lombardo said during a Wednesday conference.
In the event that an incident were to occur, Lombardo said that the amount of quick-response teams had been doubled so as to ensure maximum coverage and efficient response time. The presence of medics will also be increased, and mobile command units staffed by federal authorities will be brought into the city.
Authorities added that certain items — to include strollers, backpacks, glass bottles, and coolers, among others — will be banned from the Las Vegas Strip.
A three-mile stretch of the Strip will be closed, and 800 concrete bollards were positioned along the Strip to prevent vehicles from crossing erroneously into pedestrian traffic.
Another change includes a local and federal task force responsible for keeping their finger on the pulse of what is happening around the city in a variety of ways, including via social media monitoring, to ensure safety.
Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak asserted that the increased security for this year’s New Year’s celebration is unprecedented in comparison to previous years.
“Nobody puts on a New Year’s Eve show like Las Vegas, and never will it be as safe as it will be this year,” Sisolak said during the same conference. “The safety measures in place are impressive.”
According to the Review-Journal, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority anticipates approximately 330,000 people to visit Las Vegas for New Year’s celebrations.
New Year’s Eve will be the second time massive security increases have taken place since the deadly October shooting, which claimed the lives of over 50 people and injured hundreds more.
Officers armed with rifles were positioned on high to surveil November’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon which saw over 40,000 people attend.
