Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
What Are FBI Agents Doing In NYPD Precincts? City Hall Won't Say
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Sep 25, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Amy Harris/Shutterstock
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Sep 25, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Earlier this month, the NYPD claimed that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were being stationed in Brooklyn police precincts. According to NY1, it was part of "Operation Safe Streets," a supposedly new program to allow law enforcement to pursue weapons charges in federal court, avoiding the state's legal system and recently passed bail reforms, which the NYPD has repeatedly blamed for a rise in violent crime.
"They are in the precincts every day and looking at these arrests as they come in," the NYPD's commanding officer for Brooklyn's 73rd Precinct in Brownsville, said in the interview, referring to the FBI.
New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie, whose district includes Brownsville, said he found the report "alarming," and drafted a letter to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea and the de Blasio administration, asking them for more details by September 18th. Myrie's counterpart in the Assembly, Latrice Walker, signed the letter; so did Councilmember Alicka Ampry-Samuel and two members of Congress, Representatives Yvette Clark and Hakeem Jeffries.
"Is there some public safety reason for this? Is there is a circumstance where this collaboration is necessary? We'd like to hear it," Myrie told Gothamist.
The group has so far received no answers from City Hall.
"We talk a lot about repairing the trust between communities of color and the police department. And not responding, not being transparent, does the exact opposite, Myrie said.
As we reported at the time, this kind of collaboration between federal law enforcement and the NYPD isn't novel. For decades, the federal government has assumed control over certain gun and gang cases because they have jurisdiction, and because defendants can face higher bail amounts and steeper penalties in federal court.
If anything, the announcement seemed aimed at amplifying comments made by U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, blaming bail reform for shootings and murders.
On Friday morning, Shea was on TV again, telling viewers he understood their "frustration" with bail reform, apologizing for being "a broken record" on the issue, and pleading with lawmakers to "evaluate the current rules and make some common sense adjustments to improve everyone's quality of life."
The NYPD's data does not support a link between violent crime and bail reform. On Thursday, the de Blasio administration's own Office of Criminal Justice released a report showing that defendants who were released without bail were not more likely to miss court or be rearrested than those who had bail set.
We have repeatedly asked the NYPD, the Mayor's Office, and the FBI for details on the FBI's role in "Operation Safe Streets." None have been provided.
(Minutes after this story was published, the NYPD emailed this statement: "The NYPD has routine and regular relationships with its law enforcement partners, including the FBI, on criminal investigations. This effort reflects another example in the long history of that kind of cooperation.”)
On WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show this morning, de Blasio adamantly defended the NYPD, insisting that he has presided over "seven years of nonstop reform."
"There’s no police force in New York State that has done this many things to create reform and to reinvent themselves," de Blasio claimed.
"Our Attorney General has declared New York City an 'anarchist jurisdiction,'" Senator Myrie said. "We have a police union that has publicly endorsed the Trump administration's approach to law enforcement...This is an administration that takes a racist approach to policing. I don't think we should be doing anything to unnecessarily support that."
This story has been updated with the NYPD's statement.
Tagged
fbi
nypd
dermot shea
Bail reform
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.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Cuts to rural healthcare become key issue for upstate votes in race for NY governor
The fight over a consolidation plan for a hospital in Hudson captures a trend throughout the state.
By
Samuel King
Published Oct 25, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET
NY Archdiocese will soon settle $800M clergy sexual abuse claims
The deal would compensate over 1,300 alleged victims and help the church avoid bankruptcy.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
NY Archdiocese will soon settle $800M clergy sexual abuse claims
The deal would compensate over 1,300 alleged victims and help the church avoid bankruptcy.
By
Arya Sundaram
Chinatown residents file lawsuit against after-hours construction on new 'mega jail'
By
Arya Sundaram
Peepapalooza: NYC is heading to the Hudson Valley to watch the leaves
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
Sean Carlson
NYPD: Officer shot, injured knife-wielding woman during ‘chaotic’ night at Queens home
By
Ryan Kost
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .