Doomsday Police Units to Patrol City Subways

No, I didn't make that up, that's the tagline in today's New York Daily News. I'd actually be a little embarrassed to be that over the top, and mind you, I'm simply observing and briefly commenting on what I see.

NYPD cops armed with rifles, submachine guns, body armor and bomb-sniffing dogs will start patrolling the city's subways on Thursday - a first for mass transit in the United States.

Teams of six officers and a dog will patrol subway platforms and trains in 12-hour shifts.

The TORCH teams are being paid for by $151 million from the feds announced in February.

Similarly equipped NYPD units, known as Hercules teams, have patrolled Wall Street and other aboveground icons as part of the NYPD response to the World Trade Center attacks.

"The TORCH teams are Hercules teams with a MetroCard," a police source said.

As cinematic as this hypermilitarized policing is, it hasn't yet reached the top of what it takes to show patriotic tough love and really, really mean it. See, nothing says protect the homeland - and lets folks know you really mean it - like fixed bayonets or even swords.

It's a fist[sic] for mass transit in the United States. NYPD officers, armed with rifles, submachine guns, body armor and bomb sniffing dogs will begin patrolling the city's subway system thanks to a 50 percent increase in a homeland security grant.

Don't fret thinking that perhaps you've been left out. According to Secretary Chertoff:

Beefed Up Security A 'Model For Entire Country'

There, don't you feel safer already?

I know I do.....,