New measures to combat crime in NYC
New measures to combat crime in NYC
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell announced the launch of a new initiative to combat the increase in crime in New York City (increase in shootings and robberies, as well as the increase in crimes against the quality of life “that contribute to the crime and disorder”, since more than two and a half months have passed since Eric Adams took office as Mayor and for the moment this problem has not diminished. The new plan of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) is very similar to the controversial ‘Broken Windows’ policing policy of the former Mayor Giuliani era, which focused on combating quality-of-life crimes such as drinking alcohol and urinating in the streets, playing craps on the sidewalks, jumping the turnstile of the Subway, or simply making noise or listening to loud music.For her part, Yolanda Jiménez, deputy commissioner of the Office of Community Relations of the New York Police Department, maintains that a large part of the results The positive results regarding the decrease in insecurity situations are due to the work between the community and the Police, since sanctions have been re-imposed for minor offenses. He points out that the authorities are sanctioning again, for example, those who paint graffiti on the streets without authorization, those who throw rubbish on public roads, those who urinate in parks, drive drunk or commit other types of offenses, and in this way They have discovered different tracks of gangs of major criminals, dedicated for example to stealing cars or looting apartments, among other things. When a police officer arrests a person for carrying out these actions, he has the possibility to look at his identification and verify if it is someone with a criminal record who is being sought by the justice system or if he is related to gangs and drug sales, Jiménez said. On the other hand, the head of the Uniformed indicated in a statement that this initiative is the response to the public safety concerns of ordinary New Yorkers and tourists, which will consist of deploying more officers in the counties and precincts with more crimes. “There are too many people carrying illegal weapons and too many people willing to use them, that has to change. Now,” Sewell said.
Sewell recalled that during the last weekend, even until Thursday of this week, there were 31 shootings in New York City that left dozens injured, in these unfortunate events a 7-year-old girl is included, “a victim wanted caught in the crossfire of two rival gangs.”
NYPD tracking of ongoing quality-of-life crime complaints shows that in year-to-date comparisons since 2019, calls about street drinking groups have doubled from 1,452 to 3,193, and that calls reports of loud parties in public spaces increased to 9,013, compared to 3,338 in 2019. In the same time, 911 calls reporting people with knives in the transit system have increased by 139%, while reports of drug sales in the Subway have increased by 71%.
“These are the things that people call to complain about,” said Department Chief Kenneth Corey, “and the NYPD owes them a response. And while most encounters start with a warning, when our officers see someone ignore those warnings, there will be law enforcement.” “To be clear,” said Commissioner Sewell, this enforcement will respond to community complaints and concerns, “this is NOT a return to ‘Stop, Question, and Frisk,’ nor is it ‘policing by numbers.’ .
However, advocacy organization The Legal Aid Society said the new initiative was simply a “reinstatement of Giuliani-era broken window policing.” Attorney Jennvie Wong of the organization’s Police Accountability Project said, “Let’s be clear, this plan reinstates broken window surveillance and will undoubtedly send more Black and Latino New Yorkers to Rikers Island, a facility that is totally incapable of to care for the persons in their custody.
The policing policy known as ‘broken windows’ was imposed by Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, when he held the position during the administration of Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Bratton, who repeated the post during the first years of former mayor Bill de Blasio’s mandate, defended this technique against the so-called ‘quality of life’ crimes, since it was popularly known as a “zero tolerance” policy, using the theory whose basic principle ensures that by nipping minor transgressions in the bud, an escalation of crime in the future is prevented.