Less than a month has passed since New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city’s government moved to disband the NYPD’s plain-clothes anti-crime unit. Shooting, violence and overall crime have skyrocketed in since the decision.
Two prominent members of the city’s African-American community are now calling for a reversal of the decision to disband the unit.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former police officer himself, held up a pair of baby shoes during a press conference on Monday and said, “Babies are not supposed to be wearing these in a coffin.”
In a recent tragedy, a 1-year-old was caught in gun crossfire at a family barbecue, and killed.
“I think that a total elimination [of the unit] is something we need to reevaluate,” Adams said. “Right now, bad guys are saying if you don’t see a blue and white you can do whatever you want.”
Plain clothes anti-crime units traditionally patrol streets for individuals believed to be carrying illegal guns.
They were disbanded in June under pressure for the city to reform its policing techniques.
Community activist Tony Herbert echoed Adams’ sentiments. “The guns keep going off and now we have a 1-year-old and the blood is on the hands of the mayor and the state Legislature,” he said.
NYPD Deputy Inspector Richard Brea, who spent nearly 30 years on the NYPD, resigned in the wake of the decision to disband the unit, saying his bosses did not provided proper guidance on how to combat crime after the dissolution of the unit.
“How am I supposed to lead?” Brea told Guardian Angels head Curtis Silwa in June. “I’m doing this and others may be following in my footsteps.”
According to the latest statistics, shootings in the city have risen significantly, with 600 so far up from less than 400 at the same time last year.
Democratic NY Congresswoman Alexandrio Ocasio-Cortez has said the uptick in violence is only due to desperate people shoplifting bread to eat.
Image by Alexander Naumann via Pixabay