Ray Kelly Calls in the Big Guns
Monday, Dec 8, 2008 | Updated 7:38 AM EDT
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NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly has ordered the police department to train rookies and other cops how to use heavy weapons following the Mumbai attacks.
In the wake of the Mumbai attacks, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is calling in the big guns.
Heavy artillery -- typically only entrusted to elite squads such as the Emergency Services Unit and Hercules teams -- is going to be placed in the hands of NYPD rookies, the New York Post reported today under the banner headline "Machine Gun Kelly."
All 1,000 recruits in the police academy will be trained to use the M4 automatic weapon in time for the New Year's Eve ball drop, according to the Post. The cadets will undergo a three-day process of familiarization with the weapon. About 2,000 cops in the Organized Crime Control Bureau will also get M4 training.
"In the event of multiple terrorist attacks, these other units will be deployed to supplement Emergency Services," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told the Post.
Kelly had earlier proposed training the extra cops during "tabletop exercises" involving multiple terrorists attacks, but decided to move forward with the plan following the three-day terrorist assault that left 195 dead in Mumbai.
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