The New York Police Department has sent a memo to its officers warning them to be alert after a threat from the Islamic State group (ISIS), the
New York Daily News and
New York Post report.
"Pay close attention to people as they approach and look for their hands as they approach you," the Daily News quoted from the memo.
The alert was fueled by a new video posted online by ISIS, encouraging followers to attack police in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, reports
myfoxny.com.
Officers also are told not to sit together in a police car if the are assigned to a fixed post.
"At least one officer must stand outside the vehicle at all times. Pay attention to your surroundings. Officers must pay close attention to approaching vehicles."
ISIS spokesman Abu Mohamad Al-Adnani on Saturday issued a directive to kill police officers, soldiers, intelligence officers, and civilians in the United States. Al-Adnani issued a similar threat in September.
NYPD officers were told to take the threat seriously "in light of the terror attacks in France earlier this week."
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed credit for the attack that killed 12 people at a magazine that had run cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. But the man who killed 4 in a kosher market afterward had pledged allegiance to ISIS in a video and ISIS materials were found in his apartment.
"Do not let the battle pass you by wherever you may be," Al-Adnani said in the threat. "Strike their police, security and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents."
He said that lone wolves who don't have "an (improvised explosive device) or a bullet" could "smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car."
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