Welcome to the new normal in NYC thanks to Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio. Between allowing criminals to go free without bail to refusing to prosecute certain crimes and doing away with the 600 person plainclothes policing squad, they have managed to drive up the shooting death toll in the city.
Last week there were 28 shooting incidents with 38 victims compared to just 12 shooting incidents in the same week last year. Through 19 days this month there have been 97 people shot compared to 89 people in the entire month in 2019. The numbers have jumped through the roof.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said:
“When you look at the number of anti-crime officers that operate within New York City, and you look at a disproportionate, quite frankly, percentage of complaints and shootings — and they are doing exactly what was asked of them. It will be felt immediately throughout the five district attorney’s offices, it will be felt immediately in the communities that we protect.”
Mayor de Blasio added:
“It’s permanent. It’s a decision – look, Commissioner Shea and I have talked for a long time, literally for six and a half years about all the changes needed in this department and we’ve been steadily implementing them, and what we find is that these reforms work, they help us fight crime in a better way, and they bring community and police closer together.”
“So, this is a permanent change. The personnel will be using new and different ways to fight crime more effectively and in a way that creates a better relationship with the community, and that’s the way forward for this city and for the NYPD.”
“From the very beginning of my time as mayor, I’ve been working closely with Dermot Shea. The announcement he made yesterday is a very, very meaningful one and that is an announcement made by someone who truly believes in reform and truly believes we have to do things differently. What he has said about re-orienting the NYPD towards youth is profoundly important. I don’t think it’s gotten the attention it deserved and we’re going to put it into action.”