NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday said he does not suppport removing NYPD officers from the city's schools, explaining the issue is not "resolved" and remains a work in progress.
The NYPD only entered the school safety business in the late 1990s, under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
"I think we have to think about the fact that school safety as it's currently configured has done a lot to reduce crime and violence in our schools and has been adopting a neighborhood policing approach," he said. "I'll always consider things, but I want you to understand my honest belief that this is a situation where we have to think about the reality of safety and what each agency knows how to do, and there still is a huge safety challenge in our schools."
He continued, "Whatever we do, it has to start from a safety perspective first, but it can also come with a lot of transformation in terms of building relationships, hearing young people, hearing families differently and better. My honest feeling is that the safety issue is not resolved in schools at this point and that school safety is necessary in its current form to keep ensuring the safety of our kids and all personnel in our schools."
While there may not be a change to school policing, there may be a change to the city's roads.
When asked about adding HOV lanes into Manhattan, similar to how the city did after 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy, the mayor said, "I think that's a real interesting idea...We'll look at that."
He also announced on Wednesday that the Crisis Management System will get another $10 million from the city amid a new focus locally and nationwide on rethinking the role of police while adding more resources for community groups.
According to its website, the Crisis Managment System is a "network that deploys teams of credible messengers who mediate conflicts on the street and connect high-risk individuals to services that can reduce the long-term risk of violence."
The additional funding for the Crisis Management System, which uses dozens of Cure Violence groups on the ground, is part of the city's plan to work at the grassroots level to combat crime and gun violence.
"The truest solutions come from the grassroots, the truest solutions come from the people," de Blasio said. "The way we're going to move forward both in terms of safety and peace and justice is by the empowerment of grassroots leadership; the empowerment of organizations that authentically represent the people of our communities; that create change that government alone could never create."
The mayor said the increase in funding will allow grassroots organizations taking part in the Cure Violence movement to add staffing and new sites.
De Blasio also said the city is expanding the Cure Violence movement to four additional precincts:
- 43rd Precinct in Soundview, the Bronx
- 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, Queens
- 71st Precinct in Crown Heights, Brooklyn
- 69th Precinct in Canarsie, Brooklyn
De Blasio said with the addition of the four sites, the Cure Violence movement will now operate in 20 precincts across the city.
He praised community leaders who have worked for decades as "a different kind of guardian without badges, without guns."
"It's inspiring and it is a reminder of the direction we have to go in more and more," he said, adding that he still believes there is "a central role for police to play in keeping us safe" through community policing.
The mayor said "there's still way too much violence out there" and that "you cannot separate that violence from 400 years of broken American history."
"We have to unpiece that, we have to address that in a thousand ways," de Blasio said, noting that more reforms are being discussed now.
At his briefing Wednesday, de Blasio also praised Albany lawmakers for repealing the state's 50-a law, which shields police records from the public and press.
"We're at a very powerful moment in history, and yesterday a watershed moment, truly historic moment in Albany," de Blasio said. "The repeal of the 50-a law, a law that had held back transparency and openness, created a horrible block, really, in the ability to build trust between police and community."
De Blasio said the repeal of 50-a meant "now we have the sunlight we've been waiting for."
Protests over racism and policing in America have taken place across the city and nation since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody late last month, with calls to "defund the police" growing.
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