Seattle Police keeping watch, to make sure NYE celebration is safe

SEATTLE – Police are ready, making sure that 2016 gets off to a safe start. They didn’t want to answer questions about security for the New Year’s celebrations, but officials with the Seattle Center told us to expect a police presence throughout the night.

“We do large events at Seattle Center and we always work very closely with Seattle police and fire on security and safety plans,” says Deborah Daoust.

Seattle isn’t the only city increasing safety measures for events with large crowds. More police are on hand for the Times Square celebration in New York tonight, and they’ll be keeping an eye on the Rose Bowl festivities in Los Angeles tomorrow.

In Europe, tensions have been high since last month’s terror attacks in Paris. The city of Brussels decided to cancel their fireworks celebration altogether. In Munich, train stations were shut down after warnings about possible suicide bombers.

But when we asked people at the Seattle Center if they were worried about being at a high profile event, they said no.

“I guess I’m just not thinking about it,” says Peggy Rizzo. “If you let fear take over, we wouldn't do anything.”

“Life is too short to worry about things,” adds Mark Rosenwald. “Statistically with terrorist attacks, it's a very limited chance of it happening. So why worry about it on one day of the year?”

Herman Standiford says he has confidence that police are keeping the New Year celebrations safe.

“I’m totally comfortable downtown, I feel like Seattle takes care of their people,” he says

Still, Seattle Center officials say they hope everyone will be aware tonight.

“Safety and security is up to everybody,” says Daoust. “So if you see something, say something. Find one of those police officers and let them know what you see.”