NYPD ramps up security in wake of Barcelona attack

NEW YORK -- New York City police officials have dispatched heavily armed officers to Times Squares and other locations as a precaution in response to the van attack in Spain.

NYPD spokesman Peter Donald said on Thursday that the department is "closely monitoring" the situation in Barcelona, where the van rammed into a crowd in a popular tourist section of the city.

Donald said the NYPD has also beefed up security around Spanish diplomatic spots in the city.

Authorities say the Barcelona attack killed more than a dozen people and injured scores of others. They were investigating it as an act of terror.

The precautions come at a time when the department had taken extra security measures around Trump Tower for the president's visit there this week.