NEW YORK – Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday that he is fulfilling a campaign promise and reinstating a new version of the once-targeted plainclothes anti-gun unit, as part of his blueprint to combat violence in New York City.
NYPD is scheduled to launch the new detail, renamed neighborhood safety teams, within the next three weeks. The specialty assignment is geared to enhance uniformed public safety teams.The plainclothes officers will focus on the 30 precincts where 80% of violence takes place, Fox News reported.
It’s an issue the retired NYPD captain campaigned on after shootings and violent crime spiked in the Big Apple shortly after the teams were shut down in 2020 under his predecessor Bill de Blasio.
“New Yorkers feel as if a sea of violence is engulfing our city. But as your mayor, I promise you, I will not let this happen. We will not surrender our city to the violent few,” Adams said at City Hall Monday. “Gun violence is a public health crisis. There’s no time to wait. We must act.”