While the investigation into the Paris terror attacks continues, the New York City Police Department deployed a new counterterrorism unit for its first tour of duty on Monday.

The officers of the new Critical Response Command stood at attention outside their post on Randall’s Island, housed in the same brick building that was once home to the NYPD’s notorious Street Crimes Unit, shuttered by then-Commissioner Ray Kelly in 2002.

Officers in the new counterterrorism unit have received special training and new equipment to defend possible terror targets and, if needed, to attack terrorists.

“We begin with the premise when dealing with these terrorists that it’s all about kill,” said NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

He said the NYPD is constantly drawing lessons from events around the world, citing this weekend’s tragic events in Paris and Mumbai in 2008, when gunmen killed more than 160 people in a series of coordinated attacks.

If terrorists take hostages, Bratton said the NYPD’s obligation is to diminish the threat, “which means taking them out before they can kill others.”

The city used to pull officers away from precincts for counter-terror tours. But after the Council successfully fought for more money to beef up the NYPD’s headcount, this stand-alone unit will top out at 560 officers and their superiors.