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Colton: Bring back anti-crime unit

July 10, 2020 Jaime DeJesus
Colton: Bring back anti-crime unit
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Amid a surge of shootings in New York City, a local pol is demanding change.

Assemblymember William Colton (D-Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights) wants the NYPD anti-crime unit reinstated.

“Almost immediately after the anti-crime units were disbanded, shootings and killings skyrocketed in NYC,” he said. “I don’t believe that the mayor of NYC doesn’t see the connection, and I am calling on Mayor De Blasio to reverse his decision immediately and bring back anticrime units.

“All lives matter, it makes no difference what color of the skin you have, we are all humans, and therefore all lives matter. This must not just be a political slogan.”

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announced on June 15 that the anti-crime unit would be disbanded.

“This is a seismic shift in the culture of how the NYPD polices this great city,” said Shea. “It will be felt immediately in the communities that we protect.”

On Friday, Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a new plan to decrease gun violence. He called it “a larger effort – a take-back-the-block effort over the coming weeks – a grassroots, anti-violence effort based on very successful models from recent years of community members, making very clear that their blocks, their community belongs to them and it needs to be a safe place.”

“We will break the cycle of violence,” he said. “We’ll stop some of the retaliation that we’ve seen that has fueled this cycle of violence, and we’ll do it again. The best way anything ever changes, the only way you see profound change is from the grassroots up.”

Over the July 4 weekend, 64 people were shot in New York City.

According to Colton, murders and shootings rose immediately after the elimination of the anti-crime units and it may turn out to be the greatest mistake that was made in a crime-fighting strategy.

“It is obvious that these undercover officers were trained to identify and stop those who are breaking the laws by carrying guns and committing crimes,” said Colton. “Uniformed officers cannot do this, especially with the stop-and-frisk elimination. The result becomes obvious: the criminals became brazen in carrying guns without fear of being caught.”

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