What you should know
- The New York City Police have officers scouring the boroughs for a safety initiative that launched Monday to get guns and gang members off the streets.
- The newly launched program debuted Monday with 168 officers serving in a specialized unit and with hundreds more set to join once they finish training.
- New neighborhood safety teams laser focus on reducing firearms and gun violence. The teams of five, along with the sergeant, are an updated version of the Anti-Weapons Unit and have specialized training.
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The New York City Police have a new team of officers in borough neighborhoods as part of a safety initiative that launched Monday to get guns and gang members off the streets.
The newly launched program debuted Monday with 168 officers serving in a specialized unit and with hundreds more set to join once they finish training.
Background screening for the new team was intense and 15-20% of officers who applied were unsuccessful.
Two hours after the launch on Monday, officers with the newly formed unit detained a suspected gang member. Bloods20, who was on the streets of the Bronx and recovered a loaded phantom gun, his third gun arrest this year.
“This is what we talk about when we talk about the drivers of violence in our community,” said New York City Police Department Chief Kenneth Corey.
New neighborhood safety teams laser focus on reducing guns and gun violence. The teams of five, along with the sergeant, are an updated version of the Anti-Weapons Unit and have specialized training.
These officers will wear vests that clearly identify them, rather than plain clothes, and will have body cameras at all times.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said they spoke with community members before making changes to the program and getting it up and running.
With high-profile crimes like the man who recently shot two homeless men, killing one, teams will work with the community to identify people committing crimes. Leaders say the goal is to zero in on 30 crime hotspot precincts where 80% of shootings occurred in the last 13 months and work with the community to identify people who may have committed crimes. Meanwhile, the mayor says that he has set a high bar for the success of the new teams.
“The metric that we’re going to use for the unit to be successful is when we stop seeing shootings in our city… It’s not just about taking guns away, but about building trust with the community, organizations and groups,” he said. Mayor Eric Adams. “Those are the metrics that we’re using. We’re going to use the metrics that communities are comfortable with these men and women being assigned this difficult task and they’re going to see a substantial decrease in gun violence, shootings and homicides in our city.”
These neighborhood security teams will be in places like Inwood, Harlem and Canarsie to begin with before expanding. The commissioner makes it clear that she hopes to build strong cases and hold criminals accountable.
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