PBA President: Save lives by equipping and training patrol officers in counter terrorism

PBA President Patrick J. Lynch said:

“As we have warned in the past, there is a soft spot in the department’s anti-terrorism plan because it is likely that the first to arrive on the scene of a Paris-style attack will be regular local patrol officers who are neither trained nor equipped to engage the terrorists. In the event of multiple, simultaneous attacks, countless lives could saved by equipping patrol officers with the appropriate weapons and giving them the training needed to engage terrorists immediately instead of waiting for specialized units to respond. Every patrol car should be a mini counter-terrorism unit with heavy weapons, ballistic vests and helmets and every officer should be fully trained to respond to a terrorist attack.”