Eduardo Munoz/Reuters NYPD chief Bill Bratton intends to create a new unit of police officers specially trained to use heavy weaponry. They'll be equipped with "extra heavy protective gear, with the long rifles and machine guns," he said during a Thursday press conference. As a critic of militarized police forces, I must acknowledge that New York City and Washington, D.C., by virtue of their status as prime terrorist targets, can justify counterterrorism training and weaponry that would be absurd elsewhere, which isn't to say that this heavily armed, 350-person squad is a no-brainer.