Black politicians and community leaders are calling on the New York Police Department (NYPD) to bring back the plainclothes anti-crime unit that was eliminated last month.
According to the National Review, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams criticized the decision to disband the NYPD unit as shootings and murders skyrocket across the city.
“I think that a total elimination is something
we need to reevaluate,” Adams told CBS New York. “Right now, bad guys are saying if you don’t see a blue and white you can do whatever you want.”Almost 600 plainclothes officers are being transferred to other assignments, including detective work and policing neighborhoods, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said a month ago. The unit was responsible for getting guns off the streets but was said to promote distrust in law enforcement in minority communities.
Tony Herbert, an activist in New York, blamed city officials for failing to address the situation.
“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,” Herbert told the Review.