Dean Meminger, NY1
Eight NYPD officers, including the chief of intelligence, traveled to Paris to pay their respects to the three French officers killed during last week’s terrorist attacks.
Police Commissioner William Bratton said as well as honoring fallen comrades, the NYPD will try to gather its own intelligence. Chief Thomas Galati will be spend some extra time there.
NYPD officers attend funerals of Paris police officers killed in the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack. Photo from NY1.
“What I would look for Galati is to meet his counterpart and just develop a relationship, apart from what we already have, that will be more personable and face to face,” Bratton said. “There’s a lot to be learned from what just happened over there.”
French police officials say several people are still being looked for in connection to the attacks that left 17 dead. They are also trying to trace the source of any financing for the attacks and where the weapons came from. The NYPD has two detectives permanently stationed around France for situations like this.
Speaking in Paris, Galati said police in the U.S., especially New York, are concerned about attacks on citizens and officers.
“I think that the threat is definitely out there to law enforcement,” Galati said. “However, I think locally, federally, we do a good job trying to find these people and hopefully prevent these attacks from happening.”
Bratton said about 1,000 counterterrorism officers are working the streets and behind the scenes, but it may be impossible to stop future attacks in the city.
“The reality of terrorism is, unfortunately, in this day and age, as it is growing rather than reducing in scale, is that it’s always going to be a matter of when rather than a matter of if,” Bratton said. “We work very hard to keep it an if, and in New York, we probably have more resources than any city in the country, fortunately, to do that, but we also remain the most significant terrorist target in the world.”
Bratton said he has met with Jewish leaders and will be meeting with Muslim leaders to discuss security measures and also to remind them to keep their eyes open for any signs of potential terror attacks.
