By Police1 Staff
NEW YORK — New York Police Department Commissioner William J. Bratton announced Thursday a new unit specifically created to respond to protests and terrorist attacks.
According to the New York Times, the Strategic Response Group, comprised of around 350 officers, will be equipped with machine guns and heavy armor and will receive training in advanced counterterrorism tactics and “disorder control.”
Bratton cited the recent terror attacks in Paris as one example of the type of large-scale incidents the new unit will be trained to respond to.
The NY Daily News reports the officers will be comprised of a combination of current counterterror police and cops from other units.
The commissioner touted the cohesiveness of a unit trained and working together versus the method currently used to create a response team, which involves pulling officers from their regular precincts and sending them to these types of incidents.
“It will allow us to staff important programs like site protection and critical-response vehicles — or CRV — without using precinct personnel,” Bratton said during the Thursday presentation.
Bratton expects the program to arrive in the next six months, according to Newsday.