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NYPD Tells Cops To Stop Busting Drug Dealers Over 40
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 20, 2015
Modified May 20, 2015
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 20, 2015
Modified May 20, 2015
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Roughly 40% of all shootings in New York City involve crews comprising young men under the age of 30. A DOH report prepared under the Bloomberg administration showed that black men between the ages of 16 and 37 account for 40% of the people murdered citywide (the majority of them killed by a firearm) despite making up just 4% of the city's population. To better address these young shooters and their young victims, the NYPD has directed the Narcotics Division to stop wasting resources on drug dealers over the age of 40.
An NYPD memo given to the Post by its angry police sources and written by Assistant Chief Brian McCarthy, the head of the Narcotics Division, directs officers to immediately notify a superior when arresting someone age 40 and above.
“A previous topic of discussion has been the need to target violent offenders who are 18 to 40 years of age," Chief McCarthy writes. "It has been well established that the individuals in this age demographic are responsible for the majority of violent crime. However, a recent review of the Division's arrests revealed a lack of commitment to this effort."
According to the Post, a recent Compstat meeting turned into a Friars Club roast after officers in the Bronx laid out photographs of recently-arrested suspects who were all over the age of 40.
“You should have brought those people to Lourdes instead of Central Booking,” an angry chief cracked, referring to the French town with a spring that Catholics believe has healing powers, a law enforcement source said.
The Post's police sources say they were "blindsided" by this directive, despite the fact that a focus on younger criminals who are more prone to violence has been central to the department's strategy over the past several years.
Even as Commissioner Bratton and Mayor de Blasio have sought to distance themselves from Commissioner Kelly's unconstitutional stop and frisk program and his insistence on the discriminatory and pointless surveillance of Muslims, they have retained and expanded Kelly's Operation Crew Cut, which targets the young crews responsible for 40% of the city's shootings.
The NYPD's top spokesman Stephen Davis asserted that "the core group of people committing the violence in certain areas was in the 18- to 35-year range," and because "a fair amount of the violence is related to drug activity, our narcotics division was told to focus their efforts on those core areas and core groups.”
"We’re letting criminals go. Crime is going to skyrocket," another source complains.
According to NYPD data [PDF], as of last week there were 10 more murders in 2015 than there were in 2014, and roughly 9% more shootings. Compared to 2009, murders are down around 24% and shootings have fallen by 10%.
Tagged
allocation of resources
narcotics division
operation crew cut
violent crime
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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