FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARCH 25, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 8
NYPD unveils new Neighborhood Safety Teams in Queens
BY DEAN MOSES
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Th e NYPD’s newest unit of crime-fi ghters
deals in a dangerous game, but safety is their
middle name.
Th e much-publicized new NYPD Neighborhood
Safety Teams were ceremonially
unveiled in Queens with fanfare and
speeches from Mayor Eric Adams and Police
Commissioner Keechant Sewell. Both
the department brass and the Adams
administration are counting on the new teams
to help turn around the alarming spike in
gun violence that New York has experienced
over the past two years.
With the new unit standing beside them,
the mayor and police commissioner stood
within Queens’ Police Academy and looked
to both introduce the team to the public and
alleviate fears that the Neighborhood Safety
Teams would fail to uphold the rights of citizens
while working to uphold the law.
A dangerous assignment
Adams began by stressing the dangers involved
within the line of duty and applauded
the men and women of law enforcement for
taking on the heft y challenge.
Tasked with specifi cally tackling gun crime
in areas particularly hard hit by the violence,
the mayor believes the Neighborhood Safety
Teams are signifi cantly diff erent from the
plainclothes, Anti-Crime Units of the past
due to a variety of factors.
Citing their clearly identifi able uniforms
and their focus on known off enders, Adams
calls the process “precision policing.”
“Th is is an important day as we evolved to an
era of dealing with the violence we’re witnessing
in our streets,” Adams said. “But let’s not
kid ourselves, this is a dangerous assignment.”
According to the mayor, while the unit is
donning modifi ed police outfi ts, the teams
will be patrolling in unmarked police vehicles,
which he says both allows for the element of
surprise and ensures that once they exit their
vehicle, they are recognizable as members of
the police department.
Adams declared that the teams have had
extensive community input from clergy
members and won’t stop and frisk random
members of the public. Instead, these offi cers
will focus solely on individuals with histories
of pulling triggers.
“We are producing here an elite group of
men and women with specialized training
and skill sets to zero in on gun violence,”
Adams said.
Early success
When Schneps Media inquired about the
amount of headway made since hitting the
streets just two days ago, Chief of Department
Kenneth Corey revealed that a unit in
the Bronx took down a gang member and
recovered a ghost gun mere hours into their
fi rst shift .
“So, the Neighborhood Safety Team in the
43rd Precinct performing their fi rst tour
as a Neighborhood Safety Team about two
hours into their tour at 6:37 p.m., stops an
individual at the corner of Pugsley and Haviland
avenues,” Chief Corey explained. “Th e
individual is ultimately found to be carrying
a 9-millimeter pistol, a ghost gun. And that
ghost gun was equipped with a laser sight and
was loaded with eight rounds of ammunition.
And this is the fi rearm in question here.”
Corey displayed a photograph of the
weapon but in doing so emphasized that the
suspect the unit brought into custody is even
more important the fi rearm itself.
“He’s been arrested three times in the past
12 months in possession of an illegal gun. He’s
been arrested four times since 2018 in possession
of an illegal gun. In February of 2018,
he was arrested for a gunpoint carjacking. In
May of 2019, he stabbed a victim during a robbery.
In March of 2021, he was arrested for
a non-fatal shooting. In October, Halloween
2021 he’s arrested with a fi rearm while fl eeing
the scene of a non-fatal shooting,” Corey said.
Corey also divulged that every member of
the NYPD Neighborhood Safety Teams volunteered
for the job, but that doesn’t mean
that each member secured their position
easily.
Th e chief shared that 15% to 20% of those
who applied did not meet the criteria. In order
to be a part of the unit, offi cers are heavily vetted,
needing recommendations from multiple
high-ranking offi cials before being extensively
researched, with top brass even going as far
as to review body worn camera footage to
understand how they dealt with the public.
Filming law enforcement
Stating that it is crucial to fi lm offi cers to
ensure they are doing their job correctly and
respectfully, Adams also made a harsh rebuke
Photo by Dean Moses
of some who are recording cops in public
whom he sees as harassing offi cers.
“We want to teach the public how to properly
document if an offi cer is on the ground wrestling
with someone that has a gun. Th ey should
not have to worry about someone standing over
them with a camera,” Adams said.
Seeming to backtrack somewhat, the mayor
said he believes it is in the best interest of both
the offi cers and the public to give each other
space while they work so as not to misconstrue
an amateur videographer as a part of
the situation they are attempting to deescalate.
“Th ey the offi cers shouldn’t have someone
standing over their shoulders with a
camera in their face, yelling and screaming
at them without even realizing what the
encounter is all about. Th ere’s a proper way
to police and there’s a proper way to document.
If your iPhone can’t catch that picture
without you being at a safe distance, you
need to upgrade your iPhone,” Adams said.
Ultimately, the mayor doubled down on
complaints he says he has heard ever since
he began campaigning for mayor: the rise in
gun crime. Adams says he made a promise
to curb the violence and intends to stick by
that pledge.
The NYPD Neighborhood Safety Teams in their uniforms.
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