NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The NYPD is committed to combating gun violence and arresting those responsible for the recent surge in shootings across the city, but its efforts will "take some time," Commissioner Dermot Shea said in an interview with 1010 WINS on Monday.
Shea and Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday announced a new initiative, the "End Gun Violence Plan," that aims to address what Shea described as a "sharp uptick in gun violence" in parts of the five boroughs.
In an interview with 1010 WINS' Kathleen Marple on Monday morning, Shea said it would "take a little bit of time" to see the plan yield results.
"Towards the end of last week, we moved a lot of resources to the areas where it's needed, both on the patrol side and on the investigative side," he said. "And it's going to take some time, it's going to take some time to have effect."
"We've started to see some arrests on some of these shootings. (But) it's going to take a lot more of that to really turn the tide here, and it's going to take a significant number of people off the streets," he added. "There are people that are carrying guns with no regard to life, and that's who we're concentrating on. That's who New Yorkers want us to get off the street."
Asked by Marple whether pandemic-related court closures or the state's new bail reform laws have had an impact on the NYPD's ability to effectively address the shootings, Shea said it was "a little of that."
"The courts will say that the courts are open, because there are arraignments, and preliminary hearings. (But) go ask a defense attorney or prosecutor if the courts are open," Shea said. "We need an operating court, you know? We need people to participate."
Many New Yorkers have "lost faith in the criminal justice system," the commissioner maintained.
"They don't want to cooperate with somebody on their block when their information could be handed over, when the person is going to be right back out of jail tomorrow, and on their block," he said. "So it's a much larger systemic issue, in my opinion."
"The good news is, we are resilient. New Yorkers are resilient. We're going to get through this," he added. "But we're going to need some help, in terms of the laws that make sense, maybe refining some laws and making New York City as safe as it can be."
Addressing a CompStat meeting last week during which he reportedly claimed City Hall leaders "don't have a goddamn clue what they're talking about" and "won't stand up for what's right," Shea on Monday said he felt "we all want the same thing, generally speaking."
"Yes, I do think, at times, not always, but at times, there are people having the ability to pass laws and listening, maybe not necessarily to all New Yorkers, but listening to advocates, et cetera, and passing laws, and now we have to deal with the consequences," he said.
"But I think we need help, and I think we need tools that make sense. I think we have to have hard, honest conversations about where things change, where do we need to reform," he added.
"We've been reforming for six years, but I think there's a tipping point too, and every action has a reaction," he went on to say. "And when you keep chipping away the tools that the police have, it has consequences, and I think you're seeing some of those consequences."
