The NYPD’s Commitment to Counterterrorism

NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau
Image: nyc.gov

Phil Pulaski has 36 years of law enforcement experience, and was Chief of Detectives of the NYPD for more than 5 years where he was responsible for 3,600 personnel. During his 33 year career with the NYPD, Phil Pulaski managed patrol, investigative, counterterrorism, community affairs, quality of life, traffic and other public safety operations. In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Phil Pulaski managed the NYPD’s counterterrorism and weapons of mass destruction operations. He also supervised, together with his FBI counterpart, numerous terrorism related investigations including the 9-11 World Trade Center attack and October 2001 anthrax attacks. Phil Pulaski also was responsible for the NYPD programs involving (i) human and electronic intelligence collection operations; (ii) intelligence processing, analysis, and dissemination; (iii) counterterrorism technology evaluation; (iv) critical infrastructure risk assessment and protection; and (v) counterterrorism training.

The NYPD is America’s largest police department, with 53,000 employees and a $4 billion operating budget. NYPD police officers have brought crime in New York City to an all-time low. In addition to crime fighting, the NYPD must be constantly vigilant to protect New York City from terrorist attacks. Consequently, significant department resources are committed to fighting terrorism.

Terrorism has evolved since 2001, and after the Paris attacks by ISIS in 2015, the NYPD created the anti-terrorism Critical Response Group unit. The 500-plus officers of the unit are working to uncover a range of terrorist attacks that could use anything from knives to trucks to bombs or biological weapons. The NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau, includes the Joint Terrorism Task Force, an innovative partnership between the NYPD and the FBI to improve terrorism detection and prevention. The department also created several specialized groups to focus on the many faces of terrorism. Each group implements different counterterrorism programs including emergency preparedness, public safety, harbor security, and weapons of mass destruction countermeasures.