NYPD ups security for New Years as chief rails against national reciprocity (VIDEO)

New York Police are enhancing the already typically heavy security in and around Times Square for the upcoming year-end events.

NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said the measures will make the highly-publicized annual gathering one of the “most well-policed, best-protected events, at one of the safest venues in the entire world.”

While O’Neill said there are “no direct, credible threats” he advised that there will be additional officers on the outer perimeter to Times Square to keep those waiting to pass through double security checks from moving vehicles. The agency will also be monitoring “elevated vantage points” in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting.

Those attending the ball drop celebration will not be able to bring backpacks, large bags, and umbrellas or leave unattended property at checkpoints. Explosive-sniffing dogs and devices will be on hand to screen those who seek to enjoy the event, which is forecast to have extremely low temperatures and wind chills hovering around zero degrees.

Earlier this month O’Neill penned an op-ed for the New York Daily News in which he stressed that Congress and the White House should keep terror funds traditionally made available to the city intact rather than trim them in response to the Big Apple’s stance on sanctuary for illegal aliens. According to the Commissioner, the city gets $110 million in federal dollars annually from Homeland Security, which pays for the “backbone” of the city’s terrorism response effort including active shooter training, bomb squad, radiological and chemical detection teams, Vapor Wake canines, intelligence analysis, and surveillance systems.

The city’s top cop also argued that national concealed carry reciprocity, which would force New York to recognize carry permits and licenses from other states, would arm terrorists. “Effectively, New York police could stop four terrorists with guns acting suspiciously who presented licenses from Virginia, where almost anyone can get a gun, and be forced to let them go, even though today, that same gun possession would be a felony,” O’Neill said. “Congress needs to focus on real threats, rather than creating new ones.”

An estimated 1 million are expected to will pack the streets of Times Square on New Year’s Eve this year while as many as 1 billion will tune in around the globe to watch the event at home.