New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently ordered the New York State Police to send more state troopers to New York City to increase their presence in the city.
Cuomo also said that he is considering pulling investigators from special task forces and dispatching them to the city’s prominent transit hubs to increase the state’s profile there.
According to DNAinfo, there are about 50 state troopers stationed at the World Trade Center complex, Times Square, Grand Central Station, and Penn Station, but Governor Cuomo wants to add to the total.
As Cuomo contemplates pulling investigators from task forces to add to the number of state troops on the ground, some of his aides think he is overstepping his bounds.
The aides told DNAinfo that taking investigators from task forces was not part of the expansion plan that he proposed to them. They also said that labor contracts prohibit him from pulling the investigators even if he wanted to.
Governor Cuomo’s plan to increase the state trooper presence in New York City has upset some high ranking officials in the state troopers.
A high-ranking source speaking on condition of anonymity said, “He wanted a presence in Manhattan, and he got it, but now he is unhappy because he wants even more and it is not what he wants it to be.”
“But we don’t want our troopers used as political, high profile statues,” the source continued. “And why should we step on toes just to show our presence and screw with Mayor de Blasio, especially when there are 35,000 police officers already working for the NYPD.”
The New York State Police currently has 100 officers working on joint federal and state task forces. These officers are fighting drug trafficking and terrorism, as well as other crimes. The drug task force alone is responsible for some of the largest drug seizures in state history.
“We don’t see the value of scrapping personnel at successful task forces doing important work for the whole state, and putting them into wooden soldier positions in the city,” another source told DNAinfo.
An NYSP spokesman said Cuomo never made a request to pull investigators from special task forces.
There are some reports that Cuomo’s insistence on increasing the number of state troopers in New York City is part of an ongoing rift between Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Cuomo denied the rumors and insisted he isn’t feuding with de Blasio.
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