More police on patrol this weekend in NYC amid spike in shootings
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- More police will be on patrol over the weekend in pockets of New York City that have seen a spike in shootings.
Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled the city's Violence Prevention Plan on Friday in the wake of several more shootings which he called "unacceptable."
"We have seen some tough weekends, particularly last weekend, and particularly in Harlem, we saw way too much violence and it's not something that is acceptable in this city" the mayor said. "We cannot have people live in fear, we cannot have our young people in the cross hairs, it is not something we will allow in this city. We have to do better and this weekend coming up has to be better, particularly in Harlem, where we are focusing a lot of our efforts to change the reality on the ground."
Under the plan, the NYPD will increase its presence on more than 20 streets and public housing developments this weekend.
There will be a youth town hall next Friday in Harlem, along with additional youth engagement like pop-up basketball skills and drills, and activating Open Streets.
De Blasio is calling on community leaders to head-off more violence through patrols and other grass roots efforts.
As part of the Cure Violence initiative, the participants will offer street corner resources and be violence interrupters and help de-escalate conflict.
There will also be clergy and faith-based outreach along with a "Take Back the Block" initiative.
Forty-eight people were shot and 11 of them were killed last weekend.
WATCH | Mayor de Blasio announces Violence Prevention Plan
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