New NYPD crimefighting strategy to start on Monday
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan -- The fear of rising crime is gripping all five boroughs and was the focus at City Hall this weekend when Mayor Eric Adams summoned his top brass to brainstorm for solutions.
"The first order of business is to see if we're properly deploying what we have," Adams said.
In the 40 most violent precincts, plans are to:
- Move all 350 neighborhood coordinating officers into evening patrols.
- Send field intelligence officers to the street.
- Have three cars on the midnight shift start three hours earlier to cover the shift change.
Overall, crime is up 30 percent last month compared to April of last year. Gun violence is also on the rise. There have been 450 shootings so far in 2022 - and counting.
"I heard across the board, it's time to get back to the basics," Adams said.
Among the basics is to clamp down on fare beaters as the first step towards fighting crime on the subways. It worked for former Mayor Rudy Giuliani - they are going to try it again.
Mayor Adams is also asking for a more comprehensive approach from his agencies. He wants the departments of education, homelessness, and mental health to own some of this work.
"This is not a police problem - this is a city problem," he added.
Adams believed former mayor Bill de Blasio sent mixed messages to the NYPD and left them paralyzed.
Adams says his orders are clear - he wants his police officers to fight crime.
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