The Emergency Response Unit have been deployed at checkpoints in Dublin over the coming weeks as part of a garda initiative against gang-related crime.
The heavily armed officers are supporting uniformed officers at checkpoints in areas where criminals are suspected of operating.
The Assistant Garda Commissioner in charge of policing Dublin says it is part of a new policing strategy in the city to disrupt the activities of organised criminal gangs.
Michael Feehan says people can expect to see heavily armed officers on the streets over the next few weeks but that they are there to make communities safer and stand up to armed criminals.
