Dozens of guns confiscated by NYPD after weekend crackdown in the Bronx
OLINVILLE, Bronx (WABC) -- The NYPD showed off the dozens of weapons they took off the streets in the Bronx over the weekend, but is it doing any good, and are people feeling any safer?
A sliver of a park by the Bronx River has come alive these days, with families and bicyclists.
"Used to be bad but now it's good," Eric Floyd said.
Brothers Eric and Victor Floyd wouldn't have been caught dead here just a year ago, but these days, something's missing.
"All the cops and sirens, every day, T would tell my brother like a year and a half ago," Victor Floyd said. "Not no more."
"The cops is good, they're doing their job, they're doing what they're supposed to do," Eric Floyd said.
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A few steps away, the NYPD's Chief of Patrol Jeff Maddrey, responsible for confronting the gun epidemic, revealed this past weekend's startling statistics.
In just over three days, officers confiscated 46 illegal guns and made 57 arrests citywide.
"This is truly incredible work on the part of our police officers and it's a harsh reminder of the staggering proliferation of guns flooding in our city," Maddrey said.
The year started off with a different kind of tally. Innocent people, from babies to grandmothers, became collateral damage in meaningless gunbattles on the streets.
Activist Jackie Rowe-Adams, who lost two children to gun violence, joined Maddrey on Tuesday, and urged partnership.
"Because he has a hard task and we must stand together with him and help him," Rowe-Adams said. "Because he's doing what he's supposed to do."
As many illegal guns as cops can take off the street, more flow into the city every day.
As many gun arrests as they can make, the revolving door of the bail system spits suspects back out.
But police say this weekend's haul, enormous by any standard, is a sign they're making progress.
In this Bronx park, on this day, you can tell.
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