NYPD Training Officers To Use Tow Trucks For Snow Emergencies
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- After a much-criticized response to the blizzard, the NYPD is training a dozen officers to use department tow trucks in case civilian drivers can't get to work.
The post-Christmas blizzard dumped more than 2 feet of snow on parts of the city. Residents left their cars on major streets that went unplowed for days. Mayor Michael Bloomberg admitted the city's handling was "unacceptable."
There were 225 civilian drivers deployed to tow stranded vehicles. But in some cases, the NYPD had to send officers in four-wheel-drive vehicles to homes of tow truck drivers who were snowed in.
As a contingency plan for future storms, a dozen officers from the traffic task force are learning how to get into locked cars, prep vehicles for towing and operate the trucks.
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