Mayor, NYPD brass disagree on the cause of
Chief Terrence Monahan took issue with bail reform, RIkers
releases and the choke hold bill that makes using a knee to hold
prisoners crime. Photo by Todd Maisel
the city’s spike in shootings
Cuomo ‘very concerned’ about violent Fourth of July weekend
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JULY 10-JULY 16, 2020 3
BY BEN VERDE
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is
“very concerned” about the
recent citywide uptick in gun
violence, he said on Monday
following a deadly holiday
weekend where gunmen killed
nine people and wounded 41
others.
“It’s frightening, it’s tragic
and it’s unnecessary,” Cuomo
said. “We can do better than
this, we must do better than
this.”
The weekend of violence
came after a particularly violent
June, when gunmen shot
250 people in the first 28 days
of the month, compared to just
97 shootings in the same time
period last year, according
to NYPD statistics.
The governor said that
he will be meeting with the
city’s district attorneys, and
the state police will be meeting
with the NYPD to discuss
ways to curb the violence.
The NYPD has been quick
to blame the spike on factors
such as bail reform, the
planned closure of Rikers Island,
the shifting of funding
out of the department’s coffers,
and a recently passed law
prohibiting chokeholds.
Others have argued that
other societal factors are to
blame, such as mass youth
unemployment combined with
the yearly spike in crime during
the summer months.
Police Commissioner Dermot
Shea placed the blame
on gang activity and the drug
trade during a Monday morning
appearance on NY1.
“We get people settling
scores, we get people spraying
a crowd,” Shea said.
Cuomo said he is concerned
not just about the immediate
loss of life but for the long-term
implications for a city still
licking its wounds over the unprecedented
loss of life during
the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have COVID that we’re
dealing with, a lot of people
moved out of the city during
COVID,” Cuomo said. “You
have businesses that can’t fully
reopen, that is an economic
problem for the city, you then
have to get restaurants up
and running you have to get
concert halls up and running
… and then you add on top of
that a public safety concern
— that is a bad combination of
events.”
BY TODD MAISEL
Mayor Bill de Blasio and
NYPD Chief of Department
Terence Monahan offered
two vastly different opinions
Monday for the sudden surge
in street shootings across
New York City culminated
by a bloody Fourth of July
weekend.
During the mayor’s July 6
press conference at City Hall,
he and Monahan had agreed
that the city had been hit by
a “perfect storm” of crime.
While de Blasio linked the
spike to issues related to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Monahan
was more strident, blaming
bail reform, the early release
of inmates from Rikers
Island, and a failure of some
leaders to support the police.
The mayor has taken a
conciliatory stand on bail reform;
he has maintained that
releasing prisoners from
Rikers Island was the right
thing to do “because we had
a public health crisis.”
De Blasio believes one
contributing factor to the
crime rise are court systems
that “are not working” due
to the pandemic. Because
certain functions have been
suspended for public safety,
a number of those arrested
for crime are being released
back into the community.
“The fact that the court
system is not functioning
and then police make arrests
and there is no follow
through from courts, Commissioner
Dermot Shea
is working on that to get it
up and running,” de Blasio
said.M
ayor de Blasio said Shea
is meeting with district attorneys
to convince them to
prosecute crimes and stop
putting criminals back on
the streets. He said the commissioner
would seek the
reopening of the courts in order
to prevent the immediate
release of those arrested for
gun-related crimes.
The NYPD maintains that
many of those released from
Rikers are now committing
new crimes, and many released
under bail reform are
also involved in the seven
major felonies, including
murder.
“A lot of different things
are going on — bail reform,
releases from prison, courts
are shut down, half the population
of the jails are out and
the animosity towards police
tremendous,” Monahan said.
“Everyone is trying to fight
police officers when they
want to make an arrest. We
want to hear support for cops
leaders to speak up for the
police who are out there. Morale
is low and the rhetoric is
a small minority.”
Monahan said they are
seeking input from the community
as to what they want
officers to do for them.
“Neighborhood policing
is designed to get them on
our side, to ask them what
they want from police and we
need to deal with the community,”
Monahan said. “Our
concentration on quality of
life led to reduced crime. We
need to know from the community
how they want their
neighborhood policed.”
Further, Monahan blasted
the City Council for passing the
chokehold laws to include using
a knee to hold down a prisoner
who is resisting. He said cops
“are afraid to make an arrest of
someone resisting.”
Even so, the chief dismissed
speculation that officers
were “slowing down.”
“Our guys not slowing
down,” he said. “Investigations
take time, homicide
investigations are not overnight
and there are a number
of arrests … and numerous
individuals ready to indict.
But we are waiting for the
courts to open.”
Both the mayor and chief
said the key to bringing
violence under control is to
bring together community
organizations and reach
those with guns before they
use them.
Kevin P. Coughlin / Offi ce of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
/QNS.COM
