Jan. 26, 2022 By Christian Murray
Several Queens precincts will be getting plainclothes teams as part of Mayor Eric Adams’ crackdown on illegal guns.
Adams announced Monday during a press conference at City Hall that he would be placing plainclothes units in 30 precincts across New York City. The 30 precincts, he said, are where 80 percent of the city’s violent crimes are reported.
According to a memo obtained by the New York Post five of those precincts are in Queens. There will be 10 units in the Bronx, nine in Brooklyn, five in Manhattan and one in Staten Island.
In Queens, the paper reported that four of the precincts are in Queens South—101, 103, 105 and 113—with the only precinct in Queens North being the 114th Precinct in Astoria.
The plainclothes units — which were disbanded in 2020 by former Mayor Bill de Blasio—are expected to be on the streets over the next three weeks with a focus on gun violence, Adams said Monday.
About 400 cops are expected to join the new units, dubbed “Neighborhood Safety Teams.”
Unlike the disbanded units, the plainclothes teams will be equipped with body cameras and will wear something identifying them as police, Adams said. The officers, however, will not wear uniforms and will travel in unmarked vehicles.
22 Comments
I was robbed in plain daylight the day before thanksgiving. Then I also almost got beat up on the subway platform being to close to teenagers fighting. I’m not sure what’s going on but these officials need to do something!!!
The people who had the money have left the city for safer places, and the ones left behind are largely poor. Poverty doesn’t necessarily create crime, but it is unquestionable that where there is much poverty, there is also much crime.
It’s not the gun laws, we have strict laws here, we need law and order and mental health services because the crazy ppl are running rampant on the streets and in the subway. I have lived in Sunnyside for 8 years from the Bronx and I am hoping to get out of this city by spring. I can’t live and work in an area with people running chaos. So many criminals drunks and homeless down my block every night.
I have moved to New York from Switzerland and I definitely feel the tension in the subway system and streets. It is very hard for me to enter the subway or walk alone as a solo female. I think it is ok when you are traveling in a group.
Low cost of committing crime is the reason for the rising crime rate. Being in jail is NOT a punishment to lots of criminals these days. A bed and food will be provided that’s way better being homeless out on the street. Criminals have nothing to lose doing bad things. City needs to step up and help the struggling black and brown communities.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/18/nyregion/guaranteed-income-nyc-bridge-project.html
No one I know likes the current trend. Something needed to be done or said about the police shootings to get skilled workers back to the office and back to NYC. Blame it on other states ..who cares, just make it known that will get through this and offer people a sense of security by telling them more plain clothes cops are on the street instead of uniformed cops as they head to work and dine out. So its sounds safer. That way you please both sides. More cops undercover and less of a cop presence because they are not in uniform. Taking the subway recently and walking around it’s also back to the way it was a few months into the height of the pandemic (summer of 2020). It may be because of omicron & the cold but I think as more people take the subway and get back to work people will notice things less, more importantly more of the ones that spend money will. There are still so many hostile, crazy people out in the street and the subway system. And the city looks empty and dirty. So… dirty.
Politicians forcing the hands of police officers to step back and err…….ummm….monitor the situation rather than remedy?
Higher home assessments, increased property taxes, increased rents, restaurants closing , too many dishwashers, not enough individuals capable of handling higher skilled jobs, end of the rent moratorium, increased homelessness, depression, mentally ill, higher crime…………..so many ingredients that need to addressed and would have a greater impacts in dealing with this ‘perception of fear’ . Very disappointed in Julie Won for not being more vocal. We will definitely remember this next election.
that’s not enough. all precincts should have anti-gun units. the gun violence is out of control. they need to stop and frisk anyone that looks like a thug.
What does a thug look like?
White supremacy according to the mayor.
https://nypost.com/2022/01/09/mayor-adams-defends-giving-brother-top-nypd-job/
https://www.foxnews.com/us/eric-adams-defends-naming-brother-deputy-nypd-commissioner-white-supremacy
I applaud Mayor Adams’ plan. The problem; however – is not solely firearms. More – a moral decay and failure to parent and instill values.
We all have to sacrifice a little of our personal liberty and convenience for the much greater good of keeping honest people safe. Now I’m not a person of color, but if I were I’d be glad to know that there were police checking to see if people acting suspicious in my neighborhood were carrying illegal guns. In fact I’ve read reports that support for these units among people of color is high. It’s the crazy radical liberals who are always in a tizzy about these types of policies, not realizing that THEY are not the targets of most of the violence and should climb down from their ivory towers. I’ve always leaned liberal and do not believe in unchecked police power BUT we have MANY dangerous people in this city and whatever can be done to keep us safe is fine with me. So I say “feel free to check my bag any time you want, officer, when I’m out in public. I have nothing to hide AND I understand the reasons why you’re checking.”
Just like the war on drugs we have the war on crime and both are a farce because both could be ended in record time if the real criminals at the top were brought to justice. Once again there will be racist corrupt cops jailing low hanging fruit for stats only and nothing will change except the sensationalizing of crime. It will be a complete failure and the only result will be multimillion dollar lawsuits paid out. The problem exists because of an unjust law enforcement system built on imprisoning poor, mentally ill and Black people for profit.
Saying that New York is the safest large city in the US is IMHO setting the bar really low and doesn’t make me feel any better. Anyone who has traveled to any large, Western European or Asian city knows this is laughable given the decrepit state of most large US cities.
We need real gun control. No other nation is armed like we are. It’s so sick. I wish we could rescind the 2nd amendment. It would really solve many of our problems.
GOOD!!! That’s all I have to say about that!! I have a condo to rent in Astoria and there have been two killings in Jan. so far.
https://sunnysidepost.com/woman-fatally-stabbed-in-astoria-on-new-years-day-citys-first-homicide-of-2022
https://astoriapost.com/brooklyn-man-arrested-for-shooting-outside-astoria-nightclub-nypd
Tony- Only one of the links you posted contains a murder.
Heres is the link to the other shooting in Astoria that killed a woman about a month ago. This happened 2 blocks from where my aunt lives. More cops are needed in Astoria.
https://astoriapost.com/women-dead-two-injured-after-shooting-outside-astoria-bar-early-thursday
Yes, by all mean illegal guns must be confiscated. But is that the only issue? Or is the lack of prosecutorial interest in prosecuting, not enough police officers and with low morale, the lack of fear/respect of the officers by the criminals – do any of these contribute to the rising crime rate as well as the violence against officers? YES. I heard the new mayor say the exact same thing, but words are just words so let’s see what happens.
What’s his plan for traffic violence?
As a society, we need to stop condoning and rewarding antisocial behavior in all of its forms. The most pernicious being the belief that bad behavior in the present is somehow justified by the past. Historically privileged people thinking they have a right to behave badly because they are inherently better than others. Historically less privileged people thinking they have a right to predate anyone they consider ‘the other’ as a form of reparations. We’ve become a nation of petty, vindictive children.
Another words trying to fix the crime problem they created by going back to the policing tactics that worked. two steps backward one step forward. when will they learn to stop repeating the same mistakes. They did the same thing back in the day, same outcome. it’s like being in that movie groundhogs day. Happy to hear our elected officials are supporting the police to get these criminals off the streets. Great start, Gods speed.