BUFFALO, N.Y. — Safety was stressed by law enforcement agencies during what is considered one of the biggest events of the year in the City of Buffalo.
The city's brand new utility terrain vehicles, or UTVs, could be seen patrolling the crowds during the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, even hours after the downtown parade came to an end along Delaware Avenue.
It's all a part of their mission to keep the public safe.
"Rest assured, your police department is out here," Buffalo Police commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said. "We've been planning for this for months, for quite some time. We've got our new UTVs that are out here helping us to be a lot more mobile."
The city purchased the UTVs following mobility concerns for first responders in the December 2022 blizzard.
Gramaglia said Buffalo Police were well staffed to handle the crowd for Sunday's festivities.
"We know it's going to be a big crowd," he said, "and you'll see officers all up and down... and working with a lot of our law enforcement partners, as well county, state, federal (agencies)."
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said preparing for the event took some time and thought.
"The Buffalo Police Department has a very comprehensive plan for public safety," the mayor said.