A New York Police Department counterterrorism unit that’s the “first line of defense” against a potential terror attack faces staffing cuts of up to 75%, according to multiple reports.
Members of the Critical Response Command (CRC) unit of the NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau were warned about impending downsizing in an internal memo reported by Gothamist and the New York Post 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, per the Post.
“Though we are still in efforts to reduce this number, whatever the outcome, many home/personal lives will be affected nonetheless.”
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Members of the New York City Police Department’s counterterrorism squad (Critical Response Command) prepare their weapons in Times Square June 5, 2017, in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The reports come after New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced departments across the board face budget cuts as the city pours more resources into handling the influx of migrant asylum seekers from the southern border.
Adams said Sept. 10 New York faces a “financial tsunami” that would impact every government service from “child service to our seniors to housing.”
There are 300 police officers assigned to the CRC unit, according to the Post. As many as 240 could be reassigned to street-level patrols to make up for staffing shortages in other commands, the paper reported.
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Additionally, some 60 supervisors who staff the unit could be reduced to just 10, the report said.
In a statement to Fox News, an NYPD spokesperson said there were no immediate plans to reduce counterterrorism staffing while the United Nations General Assembly is meeting in New York.
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams during a briefing at the Javits Federal Building, New York City, April 17, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“The NYPD regularly reviews personnel allocations and considers bolstering resources in various areas whenever it is deemed advantageous to our public safety mission,” said Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard. “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 mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Adams has said the migrant crisis will cost New York City an estimated $12 billion.
Several major U.S. cities have struggled with an influx of many thousands of asylum seekers who have filled up homeless shelters after entering the U.S. New York City’s shelter system has been especially overwhelmed.
Illegal border crossings fell sharply after the Biden administration introduced new restrictions in May, but the numbers are again rising, pushed higher this time by families with children. According to preliminary data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, August was the busiest month ever for apprehensions of migrant families crossing the border with children from Mexico.
Families with children now account for about half of arrests of people crossing the border illegally from Mexico, with more than 91,000 arrests in August, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.
New York City has welcomed at least 110,000 since spring 2022, nearly 60,000 temporarily living in government shelters.
Adams has decried the situation as unsustainable and pleaded with President Biden’s administration to provide federal relief.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
