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De Blasio Plans To "Double Down" On Neighborhood Policing As Shootings Soar In NYC
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Sydney Pereira
Published Jul 6, 2020
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Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Jul 6, 2020
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Shootings continue soar in NYC in recent weeks, with a 130 percent increase in shootings for the month of June. The Fourth of July weekend was particularly violent, with 44 shooting incidents involving 63 victims alone—up from 16 shootings and 21 people shot, respectively, during the same time period last year.
Mayor Bill de Blasio promised Monday to double down on neighborhood policing to reduce the shootings, blaming the uptick on a lack of employment due to the pandemic.
"Everything has been thrown off by the coronavirus," de Blasio said. "Let's be clear. People aren't going to work. People aren't going to school. Everything's been disrupted. And most notably our court system is not functioning and it has to, but the message is the same. We are going to fight crime wherever we find it."
On Sunday alone, there were 30 incidents and 48 victims of gun violence, the NYPD confirmed. Just after midnight, police said 20-year-old Jose Cepeda was fatally shot in East New York. About 4:20 a.m., a 19-year-old died from a gunshot wound in his chest in East Flatbush, and a 27-year-old was injured. A 40-year-old man was fatally shot in Brownsville less than an hour later.
About 5:50 p.m. Sunday, 29-year-old Brooklynite Anthony Robinson was fatally shot in the chest in the Bronx. Robinson was crossing the street, holding hands with a small girl when a passenger shot at him out the window of a passing car. Those shooting incidents are just among a few from the day amid a citywide surge—205 shooting incidents were counted in June this year, up from 89 in June 2019. Homicides overall are up 30 percent, from 30 to 39 murders in June 2019 and 2020, respectively, new NYPD statistics show.
"We particularly saw a concentration of shootings in Upper Manhattan, particularly in Harlem and Manhattan North command," de Blasio said. "This is something we have to double down on to address." De Blasio blamed "dislocation" from the pandemic—though Chief of Department Terence Monahan and Commissioner Dermot Shea fault bail reform, releases from Rikers Island due to the coronavirus, and the animosity towards police.
"It’s a combination of things. Bail reform. Covid releases from prison. Court shutdown, which has Rikers half of where they were last year with the population," Monahan said during a press briefing on Monday. "The animosity towards police out there is tremendous." He added, "Their morale is low."
De Blasio said the city would "double down" on neighborhood policing in Upper Manhattan, as well as work with clergy, block associations, and the Cure Violence groups.
The commanding officer in Manhattan South blamed Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance for shootings, asking why he does not show up at crime scenes. Manhattan North's commanding officer added, "where are the elected officials and violence interupter[s]!!"
A spokesperson for Vance, Danny Frost, said assistant district attorneys historically go to the scenes and brief the DA.
"It is unclear what the Manhattan District Attorney could substantively contribute at a crime scene" through "premature mini-press conferences," Frost said.
The mayor said Shea would be meeting with the five district attorneys and chief judge Monday morning.
OCA spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said that de Blasio "blaming" the courts for the uptick was "absurd, patently false and ridiculous" since the courts have continued operating throughout the pandemic.
Erica Ford, the CEO of a violence interrupter group LIFE Camp, Inc. in Queens, said more resources for the groups are needed, even after a $10 million push from the de Blasio administration early last month, which would open crisis management system sites to five precincts across Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens.
"We don't have a $6 billion budget," Ford said in a phone interview, referring to the NYPD's funding amid calls to defund the department to reinvest resources elsewhere. "We are doing much more work in comparison to dollars and cents than what NYPD works."
If "we put more money into intervening and mediating conflicts and helping people resolve the trauma that is making them think about picking up a gun in the first place, then we will continue to decrease crime in New York City, as we have tremendously," Ford said, noting the NYPD has 24-hour shifts, whereas her staff does not.
Of Monahan's and Shea's statements on the cause of the uptick, she said, "They're just making blanket statements."
"There's no data—they're not producing data that says, person A shot person B and came out of jail last week," Ford said. She noted precincts her group covers for mediation and violence interruption saw no shootings over the weekend.
With Andy Mai and Beth Fertig.
Tagged
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shootings
Sydney Pereira
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