A team of NYPD officers trained to respond quickly to the most organized and heavily armed attacks is set to have its personnel slashed by up to 75%, according to a memo reviewed by Gothamist.
The NYPD Critical Response Command – a key component of the department’s $219.5 million Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureaus – is one of its “first lines of defense against a terrorist-related attack,” according to the NYPD.
“I am devastated by the news I have to give to you, as you all are family to me,” Scott Shanley, Deputy Chief of the NYPD Counterterrorism Critical Response Command, wrote in an email to his personnel, which was shared with Gothamist by three current and former NYPD employees.
“Today, I was informed that our Unit will be downsized significantly, by up to 75%. Though we are still in efforts to reduce this number, whatever the outcome, many home/personal lives will be affected nonetheless,” Shanely wrote.
Reached by phone, Shanley declined to confirm the cuts, or whether he had sent the memo.
The email came just nine days after Mayor Eric Adams announced billions in budget cuts following public statements about how the migrant crisis would “destroy” New York City without federal and state assistance.
Spokespeople for the NYPD and City Hall did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
The unit’s budget for the 2024 fiscal year was just over $63 million, according to city records. The NYPD allocated roughly $55 million to the command’s full-time staff. The department is weighing moving some officers from the unit to street-level patrols to address shortages there, one current and one former NYPD employee with knowledge of the decision told Gothamist. They asked not to use their names for fear it would affect their standing with the department.
The team’s members are trained in “special weapons and long-range guns, explosive trace detection, radiological and nuclear awareness, biological and chemical weapons awareness, and are equipped…
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