Updated

The new administration of New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio (dih BLAH'-zee-oh) will inherit a police department that's assumed a counterterrorism role never imagined before the Sept. 11 attacks.

The New York Police Department devotes vast resources to analyzing threats and taking security measures in response to them. At a recent briefing, for example, an intelligence analyst revealed that the department has identified New Yorkers who have gone to fight in the civil war in Syria and fears they will come home radicalized against the West.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has pursued the counterterrorism mission with the staunch support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Experts say it's become so institutionalized that the new administration would have trouble dismantling it.