Under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Michael P. Jacobson became the new Commissioner of Corrections, and Eric Taylor became Chief of Department. One of Jacobson's and Taylor's targets was the volatile Rikers Island jail, where stabbings, beatings, and assaults were common. Taylor mounted a program of proactive guards, computerized databases for a smoother operating system, and decisive and deterring shows of force. The ERU is a centerpiece of this latter effort. Taylor's first objective was to increase the size of the ERU from a few corrections department special operations specialists to a force of well over 100 officers trained and equipped to meet any challenge. Inmates are impressed by nothing other than force, and being forced to square off against a platoon of muscular men in flak jackets and armed with batons will intimidate even the most hardened inmate. A primary task of the ERU is to remove all weapons from the cells and persons of inmates. The ERU cell searches are military-like operations of force and discipline designed to convince the inmates that resistance is futile and to deter them from even thinking of producing a hidden weapon in the future. The ERU also deploys a sniper team, a prisoner transportation team, a hostage rescue team, and a crisis team.