NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — It didn’t take long for the NYPD’s new anti-gun units to make their first arrest after beginning their duty on Monday, officials announced Wednesday.
The Neighborhood Safety Teams, currently made up of 168 cops, are spread out amongst 28 areas where the number of shootings have increased since the pandemic.
One of the areas officials have identified as having a high gun violence rate is the Bronx, where officers from the 43rd Precinct made their first arrest on Monday within just two hours of being deployed, police said.
“The individual was ultimately found to be carrying a 9-millimeter pistol, a ghost gun,” said NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey.
The suspect is a 20-year-old Bloods gang member, authorities said, with a lengthy history of violent crimes including a gunpoint carjacking, a stabbing during a robbery and two shootings.
“He's been arrested three times in the past 12 months in possession of an illegal gun,” Corey said. “He's been arrested four times since 2018 in possession of an illegal gun.”
The safety teams—part of Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to fight crime—are uniformed and work out of 30 precincts throughout the city’s high crime areas. But Mayor Adams said their role is more than just patrolling the streets.
“It’s an elite group of men and women with specialized training and skill set to zero in on gun violence,” said Adams. “And to have a real version of community involvement and engagement. You can't have one without the other. But let's not kid ourselves. This is a dangerous assignment.”
The first arrest by the new team illustrates Mayor Adams’ frustration with that revolving door in the criminal justice system.
“How could you not be jaded when you go out and take the gun off the street and then when you walk down the block you see the person back on the street again the next day?” said Adams. “That's what this battle is about. We're going to continue to take the guns off the street but we need help.”
Brooklyn Bishop Gerald Seabrooks said he's spoken with his neighborhood precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant and welcomes the new effort.
“The African American and brown community affected most by gun violence,” said Seabrooks. “We're only asking that our neighborhoods be patrolled by the mantra that's on the police department's cause that is professionalism, respect, and courtesy.”
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