NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's mayor and City Council have reached agreement on early adoption of a more than $78.5 billion budget that includes hiring nearly 1,300 police officers by the end of next fiscal year in July 2016, city leaders said on Tuesday.
The extra police will be used to create a dedicated counter terrorism force that does not rely on officers pulled from other precincts, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, as well as a new community policing initiative that he will announce in the coming days.
The hiring agreement combines a plan by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to have 300 police dedicated to counter terrorism and the City Council's desire for an extra 1,000 officers, the mayor said.
"We're really talking about the long-term vision for this city, and particularly transcending the problems we've had in the past in the relationship between police and community in many of our neighborhoods," de Blasio said.
The added officers would give the New York Police Department 35,800 officers in all.
De Blasio laid out a $78.3 billion executive budget for the next fiscal year in May, a $600 million increase over his blueprint in early February.