NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — With Mayor Eric Adams hinting that the NYPD's new anti-gun unit could start patrolling the streets as soon as next week, sources tell 1010 WINS that the so-called "neighborhood safety teams" will target areas where the most gun violence has been identified and go after the "trigger pullers."
The screening process for the new units has been going on for weeks, with those selected receiving seven days of legal and tactical training ahead of the rollout.
Adams stressed the stakes for this new unit, telling Fox 5's "Good Day New York" on Monday that the city "has to get this right."
"If you expeditiously have people in specialized units hit the streets without a very thorough, well-organized training, you’re really going to exaggerate the problem, and I’m not going to do that," he said.
Members will wear a modified uniform with the word "police" clearly marked on the front and back of their clothing. They will be required to wear body cameras at all times to monitor their actions.
Adams has continued to promise the latest installment won't be a repeat of the past.
The previous 600-person undercover plain-clothes unit was disbanded by then-NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea nearly two years ago because officers were responsible for a "disproportionate" number of misconduct complaints and shootings.
Detectives who had been assigned to the now disbanded anti-crime team were re-assigned to all precincts to handle gun violence.
Officials said this new unit will be carefully monitored and scrutinized.
"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 told 1010 WINS in late January.
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