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    Eugammon of Cyrene

    Emergency Service Unit
    ActiveApril 10, 1930; 95 years ago (1930-04-10)[1]
    CountryUnited States
    AgencyNew York City Police Department
    Part ofNYPD Special Operations Bureau[2]
    AbbreviationESU
    Structure
    OfficersApprox. 350 (2024)[3]
    Squads
    • ESS #1 – Lower Manhattan[4]
    • ESS #2 – Upper Manhattan[4]
    • ESS #3 – East and South Bronx[4]
    • ESS #4 – West and North Bronx[4]
    • ESS #5 – Staten Island[4]
    • ESS #6 – South Brooklyn[4]
    • ESS #7 – East Brooklyn[4]
    • ESS #8 – North Brooklyn[4]
    • ESS #9 – South Queens[4]
    • ESS #10 – North Queens[4]
    • ESS #11 – Assigned to ESU headquarters
    • ESS #14 – Hazmat/Rescue Truck
    • Apprehension Tactical Team[4]
    • Hazmat/Weapons of Mass Destruction Team[2]
    • Canine Team[2]
    Commanders
    Current
    commander    		Assistant Chief Carlos Valdez
    Website
    www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/citywide-operations.page

    The Emergency Service Unit (ESU) is part of the Special Operations Bureau of the New York City Police Department and was formed in 1930. The unit provides specialized support and advanced equipment to other NYPD units. Members of ESU are cross-trained in multiple disciplines for technical rescue and emergency medicine disciplines alongside law enforcement.

    ESU is tasked with providing rescue, emergency care, tactical support, search warrant and arrest warrant service, police dog support, and hazardous materials handling. As of 2024, ESU consists of approximately 350 officers across multiple "squads" divided by borough sections and purposes.

    History

    Emergency Automobile Squad officers demonstrating rescue tactics in 1926

    On July 7, 1925, Police Commissioner Richard E. Enright established the Emergency Automobile Squad (EAS), the forerunner to the modern ESU.[5] The EAS was created to address the urbanization, motorization, and growth of New York City in the first quarter of the 20th century that left regular officers, who mostly conducted foot patrols, unable to address every call for service. The first two units, Squad 1 (Manhattan/Bronx) and Squad 2 (Brooklyn/Queens) were staffed by six sergeants and 44 officers.

    In September 1926, Police Commissioner George McLaughlin formed Squad 3 (Bronx) and renamed the EAS to the Emergency Service Squad (ESS).[6] In May 1928, Police Commissioner Joseph A. Warren doubled the number of existing units.[7] By 1929, the ESS consisted of 11 trucks and was staffed by over 250 sergeants and patrolmen, with an additional nine trucks and over 200 more personnel scheduled to be added in January 1930.[8]

    From its inception, ESS had been under the control of precinct commanders, who lacked the training and expertise necessary for the efficient use of the unit's manpower and equipment. On April 10, 1930, Police Commissioner Grover A. Whalen issued General Order #20, which created the Emergency Service Division and placed it under the command of Inspector Daniel E. Kerr.[9]

    Since its inception, the ESU and its predecessors had well-armed officers who effectively served as the NYPD's SWAT. The Apprehension Tactical Team, the full-time citywide tactical unit of the NYPD, was formally organized under the ESU in 1989.

    Structure

    ESU is always on patrol (all three tours, 365 days a year) with ten Heavy Rescue trucks, each ordinarily manned by a police officer and a sergeant, and often more than twice as many smaller Radio Emergency Patrol vehicles containing two ESU officers. There are also two or more citywide patrol sergeants or lieutenants in unmarked vehicles on duty at all times to supervise ESU operations where needed. These are called "U-Cars" over NYPD radio; they patrol as either U-5 (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island) or U-4 (Manhattan, the Bronx) and respond to major incidents within their assigned boroughs for the tour.[10]

    Field organizations

    The 10 Emergency Service Squads (ESS) (or "Trucks") are divided geographically as:

    Apprehension Tactical Team

    ESU tactical officers providing security at the 2019 Queer Liberation March in the West Village

    The Apprehension Tactical Team, nicknamed the "A-Team", is ESU's full-time police tactical unit with citywide jurisdiction. A-Team members strictly perform tactical missions which, on a day-to-day basis, are typically high-risk search warrants. The A-Team can be called upon to support any unit within the NYPD, as well as state and federal law enforcement and out-of-city law enforcement elsewhere in New York state and the New York metropolitan area if necessary. The A-Team is widely considered[by whom?] to have the highest operational tempo of any SWAT unit in the United States, performing up to 800–1,000 deployments per year ranging from raids and tactical interventions to security deployments and backup calls.

    A-Team members are recruited from within ESU based on team needs in a highly-selective process. A-Team members are required to maintain all of their periodic ESU certifications and must be able to support the ESU on any type of operation should the need arise.

    Canine Team

    The Canine Team has 44 police dogs that assist in searches for perpetrators and missing persons.[11] The unit includes three bloodhounds and several dogs cross-trained in cadaver recovery. The ESU canines are an integral part of the US-TF1 Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Team as deployed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

    Hazmat/Weapons of Mass Destruction Team

    The Hazmat/Weapons of Mass Destruction Team is tasked with investigating and responding to any chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) incidents. They also assist the Bomb Squad on suspicious package calls.

    Emergency Medical Squad

    ESU officers investigating a subway suicide on the IND Queens Boulevard Line platforms at Lexington Avenue - 53rd Street in 2017

    The Emergency Medical Squad is tasked with providing care to NYPD officers and their families, alongside any other victims where required, during medical emergencies without having to wait for New York City Fire Department Bureau of EMS medics. Officers assigned to the Emergency Medical Squad are licensed EMTs with prior experience. They are headquartered in Queens.

    Vehicles

    An ESU Ford F-550 Radio Emergency Patrol truck from ESS-7 in Brooklyn in 2019
    An ESU Mack MC/MR series Heavy Rescue truck from ESS-2 in Manhattan in 2012

    ESU operates numerous special-purpose vehicles, including:

    • 11 Heavy Rescue trucks, referred to as "Trucks", built by firefighting apparatus assembler E-One Inc. They serve as police equivalents to rescue vehicles of the kind operated by the New York City Fire Department.
    • 40 Radio Emergency Patrol (REP) trucks, referred to as "Cars", built by Odyssey Specialty Vehicles. Each REP carries rescue equipment, medical equipment, forcible entry tools, and scuba sets.[12][13]
    • Four Lenco BearCat, one Lenco BEAR, two Cadillac Gage Peacekeepers, and one International Photo Observation Truck, used as armored SWAT vehicles.
    • Two ambulances operated by the Emergency Medical Squad.[14]
    • 14 portable light tower generator units, four mobile light generator pickup trucks, an unknown number of 100 kW Mobile Auxiliary Light Trucks (MALTs), and several other 60 kW, 90 kW, 100 kW and 200 kW generators stationed throughout New York City.[15][16]
    • At least one Construction Accident Response Vehicle (CARV), a box truck carrying equipment used to stabilize structures and rescue trapped victims following construction accidents.[17]
    • At least one Emergency Support Vehicle (ESV), a utility truck that can carry a rigid inflatable boat and a deployable rescue airbag.[18][19]
    • An unknown number of Zodiac Nautic inflatable boats and 12 jet skis for marine capabilities.

    Recruitment

    There are minimum time-in-grade requirements before an NYPD officer can apply to transfer to ESU. Police Officers must have a minimum of 5 years in the department with a minimum annual rating of 3.5. Supervisors in the rank of sergeants and lieutenants must have 2 years in rank before being assigned to ESU. In addition, all ESU candidates must be approved by a group of current ESU members to ensure that they will integrate into the unit successfully.

    Applicants have to complete the Specialized Training School over eight months receiving training in multiple disciplines including tactical, search and rescue, hazardous materials containment and become certified in SCUBA diving and as an Emergency Medical Technician.[20][21] Tactical training includes room clearing, team movements, close quarter battle, a week of active shooter training and three weeks of specialized and heavy weapons training.[22] ESU officers are equipped with the Colt M4 Commando rifle.[23][24]

    Casualties/line of duty deaths

    ESU lost more members (14 out of 23 NYPD officers) than any other NYPD unit during the September 11 attacks.[25]

    Books

    • 330 Park by Stanley Cohen
    • Sniper's Moon by Carsten Stroud
    • E-Man: Life in the NYPD Emergency Service Unit by Al Sheppard
    • NYPD – On the Streets with the Emergency Service Unit by Samuel Katz (1995)
    • Anytime, Anywhere! by Samuel Katz (1997)
    • Uncommon Valor: Insignia of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit by Andrew G. Nelson (2015)
    • Uncommon Valor II: Challenge Coins of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit by Andrew G. Nelson (2017)
    • Some Very Special Men – The Emergency Service to the Rescue by Cy Egan (1974)
    • Police Emergency Squad No, 1 by Stephen H. Schwartz (1974)

    Films

    Television series

    Video games

    See also

    References

    1. ^ NYPD Special Ops [@@NYPDSpecialops] (April 11, 2018). "On April 10, 1930 the NYPD established the Emergency Service Unit" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
    2. ^ a b c "Special Operations". New York City Police Department. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
    3. ^ Roy, Reena (January 28, 2019). "NYPD's Emergency Service Unit Welcomes The Opportunity To Take On The 'Heavy Jobs'". CBS 2. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
    4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Katz, Samuel M. (1995). The Illustrated Guide to the World's Top Counter-Terrorist Forces. Hong Kong: Concord Publication Company. ISBN 9623616023.
    5. ^ NYPD General Order #31, 1926
    6. ^ NYPD General Order #26, 1926
    7. ^ NYPD General Order #11, 1928
    8. ^ NYPD Annual Report 1929
    9. ^ NYPD General Order #20, 1930
    10. ^ WYNC (January 4, 2012). Inside the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit (Television production). Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Youtube.
    11. ^ Meminger, Dean (October 23, 2020). "Paw Patrol: How NYPD Elite Officers and K-9s Train in Brooklyn". Spectrum News NY1. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
    12. ^ NYPD ESU REP
    13. ^ NYPD ESU REP
    14. ^ NYPD ESU Ambulance Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine
    15. ^ NYPD ESU light truck
    16. ^ NYPD MALT truck
    17. ^ NYPD ESU CARV truck
    18. ^ NYPD ESV truck
    19. ^ NYPD ESV truck
    20. ^ "53 Officers Graduate Elite NYPD ESU Training". NYPD news. April 5, 2018. Archived from the original on April 7, 2018.
    21. ^ "Meet Police Officer James Seery from the NYPD Emergency Service Unit". NYPD news. January 6, 2018. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019.
    22. ^ NYPD (April 16, 2019). The NYPD's Active Shooter Response (Television production). Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Youtube.
    23. ^ Parascandola, Rocco (December 31, 2015). "NYPD to spend more than $700,000 to buy automatic weapons for ESU cops". Daily News. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
    24. ^ "Safe Cops, Safer City: NYPD Training, Technology, and Equipment" (PDF). NYPD. December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
    25. ^ O'Donnell, Norah (July 2, 2018). "Profiles in Service: Meet the NYPD's only female counter-sniper". CBS This Morning. CBS News. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
    Credit: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Police_Department_Emergency_Service_Unit

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