The New York City Police Department announced on Thursday it plans to introduce an anti-terror strike force armed with rifles and machine guns, television station WCBS reported.
The force will be “designed for dealing with events like our recent protests, or incidents like Mumbai or what just happened in Paris,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said, according to the television station.
Officers in the unit will “be equipped with all the extra heavy protective gear, with the long rifles and machine guns — unfortunately sometimes necessary in these instances,” Bratton added.
The NYPD will introduce the strike force in a pilot program in Manhattan and Queens, Capital New York reported.