WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 15, 2022 12RIDGEWOOD TIMES
The long crime fi ght
In his fi rst three months in o ce, Mayor
Eric Adams has compared the surge of
gun violence in New York City to a roaring
river fl ooding the town.
“The sea of violence comes from many rivers.
We must dam every river that feeds this
greater crisis,” Adams said back in January
when he announced his plan to tackle gun
violence, including the introduction of new
NYPD teams dedicated to locking up guntoting
criminals.
The e ort appears to be starting to bear
fruit. In announcing the March crime
statistics on April 6, NYPD Commissioner
Keechant Sewell reported “record numbers”
of arrests during the month, including 410
collars specifi cally for gun-related o enses.
Still, the NYPD reported an overall major
crime increase of 36.5% — the third straight
month with a crime spike of 30% or higher.
Murders and rapes dropped, but shootings
were still up 13.5% — and property crimes
such as robbery, grand larceny and burglary
were each up more than 40%.
Murders and shootings make the
EDITORIAL
ESTFAontB: EnLgrIavSerHs OlEd EDngl is1h 9No0rm8al
Co-Publishers
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While Mayor Adams’ administration is taking steps to combat the city’s rising crime rate, substantial change will take time.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
THE HOT TOPIC
headlines and pose the most lethal threat
to New York City’s safety. But property
crimes are a serious problem that, le unabated,
threatens the long-term stability and
security of the city.
People need to feel safe walking on the
street or leaving their home unattended for
a few hours. Sewell and Adams have both
vowed to restore that sense of security
through increased NYPD e orts to tackle
crime, but they also insist that the state
revisit some of the bail and other criminal
justice reforms enacted in recent years.
“It’s clear we are confronting a perception
among criminals that there are no
STORY:
Permanent tow truck stationed
within Queens’ Community Board 5
to curb parking violations
SUMMARY:
After Councilman Robert Holden
requested increased police presence
to curb tra c and parking violations,
NYPD added a permanent tow truck
in Community Board 5 to remove
illegally parked cars on crosswalks,
sidewalks, in front of places that
could potentially create a hazard.
REACH:
183,032 (as of 04/11/22)
consequences even for serious crime,”
Sewell said on April 7. “We need tangible
changes with a balanced system that puts
victims fi rst. It must be fair, but it must
fi rst and foremost favor the people it was
designed to safeguard and protect.”
As it has been said before, reforming the
reform doesn’t mean killing the reform entirely.
The bail reform changes enacted in
2020 were necessary to close a major disparity
in the criminal justice system, allowing
nonviolent o enders and defendants to be
set free a er arrest rather than confi ned
with violent criminals in jails.
But it is clear the system is fl awed, and
those fl aws — combined with the economic
and mental trauma infl icted during the
COVID-19 pandemic — has undoubtedly contributed
to New York City’s crime problem.
Changing the criminal justice system for
the better in concert with bolstering the
city’s economy and supporting the NYPD’s
crime-fi ghting e orts are the way in which
this crime spike will be turned back. No one,
however, should expect substantial change
in weeks or months or even years.
New York is in it for the long haul. The
river is still roaring. And the faster we build
the dam together, the quicker the fl ood of
violence will end.
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