NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that his new anti-crime plan was created to curb a “sea of violence” in New York City and will be completely different from strategies of the past.
In an interview with 1010 WINS, the mayor noted that the rise in New York City crime has been multifaceted, and there needs to be an extensive, well-researched approach to stopping the tide.
“We have a sea of violence in this city and there are many rivers that are feeding that sea. We need to dam each river,” the mayor said.
Among his top priorities in curbing violence is addressing bail reform laws, which he believes is “allowing dangerous people to repeatedly come out of jail.”
He said another crucial point in his plan is the creation of a new plain-clothes unit, which has generated some controversy already as some New Yorkers fear it will bring back stop-and-frisk – a police tactic used during the Bloomberg administration that disproportionately targeted Black and Brown communities.
Speaking with 1010 WINS Tuesday morning, however, Adams reassured people that the unit will operate differently than other plain-clothes units have in the past.
“We're not going to have any tactics used in the city that will be abusive to any New Yorkers in general, specifically to Black and Brown men,” Adams said.
“This unit that we're rolling out would be a Neighborhood Safety Unit. They're going to be in a modified uniform attire, so we can readily identify they’re police officers. They're going to wear body cameras. But, most importantly, they're going to be some of the finest of the finest,” the mayor added.
Adams said there are already 400 officers signed up for the unit that are being trained to “zero in on guns and gangs and violence.”
The mayor stressed that his plan is also centered on making police officers feel safe and respected in New York City, following a string of incidents during the de Blasio administration, in which police officers were frequent targets of abuse.
“We have to give our police officers the support they need. This was a city where we witnessed individuals pouring water over the heads of police officers,” Adams said. “And we were telling police officers to make our city safe, but we’re dismantling every aspect of what safety is supposed to be about and look like.”
However, the mayor stressed that as police officers do their jobs, and work to get guns off New York City streets, “we need help from our partners,” such as the federal government and local lawmakers.
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