FBI and New York law enforcement will be heavily monitoring Election Day security
NEW YORK -- The FBI's New York division says it's prioritizing election security ahead of Election Day. State and local law enforcement say they are also at the ready.
CBS News New York's Lisa Rozner spoke with Mayor Eric Adams on how New York City is preparing.
Targeting of workers, civil rights violations won't be tolerated
City polling locations like the Fashion Institute of Technology and CUNY John Jay were quiet Monday, but come Tuesday the mayor says to expect to see stepped up law enforcement.
"We have two officers at each polling site. The Intelligence Division under Deputy Commissioner Weiner is monitoring all of these different chats and channels to know, how do we deploy personnel if needed?" Adams said.
The FBI says its National Command Center in Washington D.C. has about 80 people assessing threats 24/7. Those threats include any targeting of election workers, voter fraud and civil rights violations.
The FBI New York will have its own command post emulating the feds.
"In each of the command posts in the field offices, we have election crime coordinators or ECCS. They are the conduit. They're the point of contact with state and local officials," said James Barnacle, the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division's deputy assistant director.
The role of N.Y.'s Department of Homeland Security
CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer recently sat down with Jackie Bray, the head of the New York State Department of Homeland Security.
"We saw a video that was Russian, produced and distributed that was totally fake, of supposed Trump ballots being destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Within three hours, the local county board came out and said this is false," Bray said. "The way we protect New York from that is we stay skeptical. We check our information, take a beat, don't share stuff before you know if it's real or not.
"What I want New Yorkers to do is to evaluate the claims. We're smart people, right? And we know who we are as New Yorkers. Evaluate the claims that you're hearing. Check the sources. Ask yourself, what's the motivation behind that claim? Can I trust that source of information and, you know, make your own decision," Bray added.
The NYPD is also on the case
The NYPD says at this time there are no credible threats to New York City or any specific polling locations.
"Some are already calling for violence, making allegations of election fraud, so have you been talking with your teams about the aftermath of the elections?" CBS News New York's Lisa Rozner asked the mayor.
"You always hear these issues, you know? All of us heard about, you know, what could happen at the Israeli Day Parade, what could happen on Oct. 7," Adams said. "We're professional enough, all of our agencies, to make sure we respond to the challenge as the challenge come up, and those of the omnipresence of NYPD officers in uniform is a real great deterrent. We're not going to allow people to get in and disrupt our process."
The mayor echoed sentiments by Bray, who said, "The best way to protect our democracy is to participate in our democracy."
The state says cybersecurity professionals are also monitoring the web for foreign interference.
