A unit in the NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau trained to respond quickly to “the most highly organized and heavily armed attacks” could be slashed by as much as 75%, The Post has learned.
Members of the NYPD’s Critical Response Command – described as one of its “first lines of defense against a terrorist-related attack” – were warned about the possible personnel shake-up in an internal memo this week.
“Today, I was informed that our unit will be downsized significantly, by up to 75 percent,” Deputy Chief Scott Shanley, commanding officer of the unit, wrote in the memo, obtained by The Post.
“Though we are still in efforts to reduce this number, whatever the outcome, many home/personal lives will be affected nonetheless,” he added.
Of the 300 cops assigned to the unit, some 240 face being moved back to street-level patrols to fill staffing holes in other commands, including the new 116th Precinct in Queens that is set to open next spring, police sources said.
An NYPD spokesman said that the department had “not committed” to restructuring the specialized unit, or any others.
“The NYPD regularly reviews personnel allocations and considers bolstering resources in various areas whenever it is deemed advantageous to our public safety mission,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard said in a statement Wednesday.
“We have not committed to altering the size of any unit, and certainly do not plan to modify components of our intelligence and counterterrorism apparatus during the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly.”
The unit – described by the NYPD as “a permanent cadre of hand-selected police officers devoted to counterterrorism” – began eight years ago with 500 cops and supervisors, sources said.
The officers are dispatched to high-profile events in the Big Apple, including: the US Open and other sporting games; New Year’s Eve in Times Square; the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting; the West Village Halloween parade; Fleet Week, and any occasion when the president or dignitaries visit.
A cop who used to work in the CRC bemoaned that the drastic restructuring would happen less than a decade after the unit was formed.
“What other city starts a counterterrorism unit with 500 cops 8 years ago, touted as an elite group able to move all over the city at a moments notice if needed, and now it’s shutting down when terrorists are flowing into the country at will?” the source griped.
A recently-retired CRC supervisor told The Post, “there is no exact way to say if our unit deterred terrorist attacks. However, in the eight years since our inception, there were no terrorist attacks.
“When people see heavily armed police officers standing in front of the location, it is obvious they would think twice about attacking that address,” the source said.
Sources said the current number of cops in the unit could dwindle down to just 60 under the proposed personnel shake-up, which was first reported by Gothamist Wednesday.
And the group of 60 supervisors who staff the unit could be cut down to 10, sources said.
It wasn’t clear when the officers would officially move to their new assignments, according to the sources.
The overhaul would also likely quash plans to move 18 K-9 units into a facility on Randall’s Island that was set to be used by the CRC, and which has a five-year lease that was signed over the summer, sources said.
Narcotics officers of the Emergency Service Unit will likely now employ those police dogs instead, according to the sources.
Officers in the CRC also recently received new heavy bulletproof vests for the US Open Tennis Championships, which wrapped up earlier this month, sources said, adding the unit was also scheduled to receive new helmets, but that order has been canceled.
Members of the unit are “trained in special weapons and long-range guns, explosive trace detection, radiological and nuclear awareness, biological and chemical weapons awareness,” according to the NYPD.
They “are equipped with the skills to detect an impending attack and utilize the best possible response to an emerging situation,” the department states.
When the CRC officers are not assigned to events, they can be seen outside the Israeli Consulate, in the Diamond District, at the Intrepid, as well as inside Penn Station, Grand Central Station and various courthouses.
Additional reporting by Joe Marino and Tina Moore
