They Must Squash Unconstitutional Activity Before Expecting More Funding
Empty promises and a false sense of hope are all too familiar for New Yorkers. With crime jumping to a 23.5% increase at the end of 2022, many have been at risk — the NYPD included.
The NYPD released statistics proving that crime was surging upward in essentially every category at the end of last year, contradicting much of Mayor Eric Adams’ statements after his election into power. Just recently the newly implemented Neighborhood Safety Teams proved a slight success in bringing down the murder rate, but at the cost of overtime shifts with money that the department doesn’t have to spend — contributing to over $700 million, actually — and proven unconstitutional searches.
While it’s no secret that Mayor Adams is pro-stop and frisk, he claimed that the constant stops and unlawful searches of NYC residents were going to come to an end.
According to a study noted by the New York Times, “Almost all of the stops made by the rebranded ‘neighborhood safety teams’ analyzed in the report — 97 percent — were of Black or Hispanic people, and 24 percent of the stops were unconstitutional. Of 230 car stops included in the sample, only two appear to have turned up weapons, the report said. The study found especially troubling numbers in a handful of precincts, including the 41st Precinct in the Bronx, where only 41 percent of the stops, 32 percent of frisks and 26 percent of searches were constitutional, according to the report.”
Molly Griffard, a staff lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, told the New York Times that based on the conclusions of the reports surrounding these new neighborhood safety teams, “hyper aggressive policing tactics” were still quite common.
If the NYPD has unlawful cops throughout various precincts and a lack of funding, how will they ever be able to implement police reform where needed, and look to employ officers with no offenses, hoping to protect their communities from harm?
The NYPD only made up 5.9% of the city’s total budget in 2022, and Adams won’t be able to convince his peers with rather radical political agendas if his task forces aren’t adhering to the law.
To destroy the city wide anti-police narrative with hopes for a reformed NYPD — not in all precincts, but at least in areas with proven statistical corruption — Adams must ensure that the force works as a collective and most importantly, follows the law when interacting with city residents, to positively rebrand the department image.
Crooked cops give their peers a bad name and hurt the image of the NYPD overall — especially in the eyes of progressives who would rather the department just cease to exist. Think about it: How can a department begin to move in the proper direction — just like the city hopes to do — if numerous newly assigned street sweep teams operate with tendencies deemed illegal?
For crime to remain lower than previous summers — 2020 and 2021 being two of the worst — then funding toward clean searches and constitutional safety teams made up of motivated, clean slate NYPD officers is essential. But again, this all starts with Adams and his consistency in pushing currently employed officers to make decisions that benefit the department, but most importantly, New York City Residents. Afterall, it would mean reelection if his plans begin to hold value. He needs to earn the trust of New York City.
Adams has to know that attempts to take guns and drugs off of the streets by illegal force is not what New Yorkers want. Attack crime when it’s visible, study those who are truly harming their community and then, make a move. Don’t assume that everybody is suspicious, because now, there is no community progress being made — and everybody will feel remorse regarding the NYPD, which is already the case for so many.
Now sure, if Mayor Adams enforces illegal searches with hopes to take guns and drugs off of the streets, it wouldn’t matter if the cops were clean or not. But, it seems that the lack of department cashflow keeps the undeserving cops in power, the ones who have a knack for harassing residents with false hopes to find anything — at least according to studies.
The idea is somewhat there from Adams in regaining safety throughout New York City neighborhoods, but the resources right now, are not.
And, not to mention, a major cut in police funding with hopes to shape up local classrooms has drastically failed. Realistically, getting kids off the streets and keeping them out of trouble begins with a strict and constitutionally sound police force eliminating crime and creating community safety. Test scores can’t increase if kids aren’t showing up.
Rebrand the department’s image now, by holding true, legitimate, constitutional values at the forefront of the department’s mission. More city funding, resources and officers will follow. Eventually, this could mean bringing back much needed forces like the homeless unit back into the NYPD from the Department of Homeless Services, which certainly wouldn’t hurt.
So, in 2023, are aspects of crime down? Comparing the month of May this year to last year, yes, in categories of murder, rape, robbery, grand larceny and burglary, but from what it seems, at the cost of harassing marginalized city residents and over $700 million spent in overtime efforts.
The NYPD will never be approved to receive more money from the city’s budget if Adams doesn’t stand firm on his promise of no more illegal activity. Districts that have proven unlawfulness such as those mentioned in the previous study need a clean sweep, but it just can’t be done yet with such limited resources: Adams must prove effective with what he has for there to be any thoughts of change.
In short, Adams doesn’t seem like he’s proven trustworthy regarding some of NYC’s most relevant issues of policing, safety and security, and would rather strip residents of their liberties in trying to make voters happy. Hope isn’t totally lost for Adams in this regard if effective, well-thought out plans and policies during his remaining tenure begin to occur, for the sake of gaining the trust of residents for a new-era NYPD, but most importantly, for the sake of New York’s safety.
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