NYPD ESU: A-TEAM – YOUTUBE SCRIPT
The Daily got unprecedented access to see the NYPD’s real-life A-Team in action. They’re
part of the police department’s emergency service unit- or ESU. When there’s a really
tough mission - a crisis in New York City, these are the guys that get the call.
>> ERIK GERMAN: [The Daily, Correspondent] It’s just after 6am and we’re rolling
through one of the most violent precincts in New York City with the apprehension tactical
team. They call these guys the A-team. The NYPD calls in the A-team where there’s some
dangerous situation behind the door when police arrive– something like drugs, guns or a
dangerous animal. These guys are now about to go and hit a door and execute an arrest
warrant.
The A-Team also plays a key role in preventing and responding to terrorist attacks.
>> COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY: [New York Police Department] As they were going back to the
car, that’s when the signal was given for the emergency service officers to move in.
In 2009, they were the primary tactical unit that helped thwart a bomb plot against 2 Synagogues.
But their main job on a day-to-day basis remains executing the city’s most dangerous arrest
warrants.
So the team has just gone inside and they’ve entered one apartment and they’ve secured
that apartment. Now they are moving to the 2nd apartment. All of this took just a a matter
of minutes.
So how’s it going so far? >> SERGEANT JERRY FLOOD: [NYPD Emergency Service
Unit] Everything’s going according to plan. No problems or no issues in first location.
Sargeant Flood, we’re leaving first location and headed around to the 2nd.
Alright 10-4. I’ll be standing by.
One of the officers has agreed to wear a wireless microphone and it’s actually transmitting
sound out to us here in the street. We can hear they’re inside the 2nd apartment now.
And this is a pretty common thing – there’s a young child inside the apartment and the
officers have to make sure the child is safe before they conduct the rest of the search.
I can actually hear the kid crying now.
Don’t worry, don’t worry. Okay. Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Here. Don’t worry.
Here, sit, sit, sit in the chair. You’ll be okay.
As a father, What does it feel like when get in there, and a baby in there that has nothing
to do with it. >>DETECTIVE DALE SCHULTZ: [NYPD Emergency
Service Unit A-Team] That’s the hardest part – the elderly and the kids that have
no part in it, but there’s a bad guy in the apartment. And they’re getting involved
in this whole family aspect, that’s the hardest aspect of the whole warrant situation.
But you take into consideration, and give as much respect as you can.
That was pretty fast. We got here a little before 7 I want to say.
We did 3 warrants in 1 hour. That’s why we train, you do the same job everyday the
same, and it stays that way.
This time it went without a hitch. But the A-team never knows what’s going to face
them when they go through the door. There could be a suspect with heavy weapons – and
nothing to lose.
They train for these arrest warrant entries through exercises here – at the TAC House
– short for tactical.
After breaching the door, the A-team systematically moves through each room of their house with
their bunker team guiding the way– made up of an officer with a machine gun and another
with a ballistic shield.
What does that patch mean on your vest? >>DETECTIVE PATRICK BARRY: [NYPD Emergency
Service Unit A-Team] This patch says A positive – that’s my blood type. So it’s really
identifiable in case I’m incapacitated for whatever reason.
It seems like bad luck almost wearing that. It’s actually good luck. God forbid anything
happens to me, they can treat me that much faster.
So Sergeant, could you explain to us a little bit about the weapons that you use in training?
The weapons that we use in training are like duplicates of the weapons that we’re gonna
actually use on patrol. The only difference is, is that the tip of the bullet here is
actually filled with a paint or a kind of a – some type of marking system.
Why is it important to have a training weapon that’s just like the one that you carry
for a live – a live event?
Well, we need the – we need them to train. The way they train is the way they’re gonna
actually perform out on the street in the real world.
And the ‘real world’ has left them with memories of fellow officers, fallen in the
line of duty.
>>LIEUTENANT KENNETH BEATTY: [NYPD Emergency Service Unit] I mean, the effects of 9/11
– we lost 14 members of this Unit, and we’re still, you know, recovering from that. We
can’t lose the sight of the fact that we’re here, you know, to help, you know, help the
community, help, help the city. The whole world has changed, and certainly we’ve changed
in response to 9/11.