The NYPD on Monday announced the formation of the Critical Response Command, the new elite arm of its counterterrorism bureau. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report.
There were alarming words from Police Commissioner William Bratton Monday about the potential threats facing the city.
"The world changed dramatically over the weekend," Bratton said. "That threat is growing and morphing in new and dangerous directions, as evidenced by the events in Paris."
Days after the attacks in France, Bratton said the first of 560 newly trained counterterrorism officers are hitting the streets. Soon, 100 members of the elite Critical Response Command will be on duty at any given time across the city.
"These officers will be the officers that will be equipped to go towards the danger, the offense, to take on those that might be seeking to perpetuate armed attacks," Bratton said.
The officers will have special vehicles and weapons. They are being trained not to negotiate but to move in quickly, because Bratton says negotiation is not what terrorists want.
"At all cost, our first obligation, our first response is to try, by the speed of our actions, to save as many lives as possible, to basically diminish the threat, which means taking them out before they can kill others," Bratton said.
The elite new unit is in addition to 1,000 counterterrorism officers already on the force.
The Fire Department also plays a critical part.
"We have trained our members to react to fire used as a weapon," said Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
The police commissioner says the NYPD will now have to focus even more on what's considered soft targets, like theaters, hotels and shopping malls. He says the new officers from CRC will be popping up unannounced to check on those locations.
Law enforcement agencies are also scrambling to understand how the Paris attackers organized without being detected.
"What type of devices were they using for communication? What type of smartphone? What type of apps possibly on that phone. Many apps are out there now that encrypted messages instantly," Bratton said.
The NYPD plans to send more detectives to Paris to join the one already stationed there to learn more about the attacks and prevent them from happening here.