T20 World Cup: Nassau police add patrols, monitor potential threats to cricket matches

Nassau police officials say they will add 100 officers to patrol the county during the upcoming men’s T20 World Cup cricket tournament in Eisenhower Park, as law enforcement continues to monitor potential threats to the event.

While Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said earlier Wednesday, in a letter to the community, that there was no credible threat to the 12-day tournament, he nevertheless cautioned, in a news conference minutes later: “We are vetting and running all the leads on that. We’re going to treat it the same as we treat any other threat: It will be a credible threat until it’s not.”

“When you’ve got a game and a crowd as big as this, everything is credible,” Ryder said. “There are no targets that are going to be left out there. We’re going to cover all of our infrastructure with the extra resources that are outside that venue.”

Tuesday, a federal law enforcement source told Newsday that officials were aware of a vague threat by someone purportedly linked to the Islamic State group but that it lacked specificity.  

Ryder noted that police have been monitoring threats since April, including reports that surfaced in international media Tuesday of a threatening image, purportedly released by a group that supports the Islamic State terrorist group, that made a reference to “Nassau Stadium” and the date June 9. That is the date of the highly-anticipated match between India and Pakistan.

Other threats being monitored, Ryder said, include a video calling for a “lone wolf” to attack the Nassau stadium.

The additional 100 police officers will patrol Nassau County during the tournament, supplementing the regular 177 cars on patrol daily, said County Executive Bruce Blakeman. He would not say how many officers will be in the stadium area, but there will be increased security.

Eisenhower Park will be closed from about 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily starting Saturday and throughout the tournament. One golf course at the park will remain open with separate security, Blakeman said.

Everyone who enters the stadium must have tickets or credentials and must go through a metal detector. Searches will be conducted while entering the stadium and no bags will be allowed inside. Only clear plastic bags are allowed for medical reasons, Ryder said.

Police have also requested a no-fly zone around Eisenhower Park during the tournament, which also prohibits any drones flying in the area. Nassau County police helicopters will be surveying the area from morning until about 6 p.m., Ryder said.

Police will be monitoring traffic, as well as rooftops, to keep the area secure, Ryder said,

Nassau police are working with local, state and federal officials including the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the NYPD.

Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement Wednesday saying, “While there is no credible public safety threat at this time,” state police will boost security measures, including “an increased law enforcement presence, advanced surveillance, and thorough screening processes.”

The first Nassau cricket match is a warmup Saturday between India and Bangladesh. Nassau is scheduled to host eight cricket matches in 11 days, starting Monday, as part of the World Cup tournament. The county erected a temporary 34,000-seat cricket stadium in Eisenhower Park to host the World Cup.

After a separate threat against the tournament was reported in early May in the Trinidad and Tobago Sunday Express, Cricket West Indies and the International Cricket Council, the game’s global governing body, released a joint statement, Reuters reported.

“We work closely with authorities in the host countries and cities, and continually monitor and evaluate the global landscape to ensure appropriate plans are in place to mitigate any risks identified to our event,” they said, according to Reuters.

Other World Cup matches will be played in Dallas, Florida, Guyana, Barbados, Antigua, Tarouba, St. Vincent and St. Lucia during the month of June.

The Islamic State is an offshoot of al-Qaida that took over much of Syria and Iraq in 2014 but had been largely defeated on the battlefield by 2018. It maintains desert hideouts in both countries and its regional affiliates operate in Afghanistan, West Africa and the Far East. It claimed responsibility for a concert hall attack in March that killed 145 people, the most deadly attack in Russia in years, The Associated Press reported.