NYPD Commissioner announces plain-clothes anti-crime unit will be eliminated

The New York Police Department will disband its plain-clothes anti-crime unit that was involved in some of the city’s most notorious shootings and reassign its 600 officers to tasks that include detective work and neighborhood policing.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced the move on Monday after his department has drawn scrutiny over the tactics used against protesters after the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

‘When you look at the number of anti-crime officers that operate within New York City, and you look at a disproportionate, quite frankly, percentage of complaints and shootings – and they are doing exactly what was asked of them,’ Shea said. 

The head of one of the largest police unions in the city slammed the move, saying it will make New York less safe.

‘Anti-Crime’s mission was to protect New Yorkers by proactively preventing crime, especially gun violence,’ Pat Lynch of the Police Benevolent Association said in a statement. 

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea (above) said his department would disband a plain-clothes, anti-crime unit

A plainclothes police officer detains and then releases a person alleged to have vandalized a store on May 31 in New York City

A plainclothes police officer detains and then releases a person alleged to have vandalized a store on May 31 in New York City

Last month, a member of the anti-crime unit was placed on modified leave after being filmed using a Taser to subdue a man while enforcing social distancing guidelines in the East Village of Manhattan

Last month, a member of the anti-crime unit was placed on modified leave after being filmed using a Taser to subdue a man while enforcing social distancing guidelines in the East Village of Manhattan

Mayor Bill de Blasio hailed the move, tweeting: 'Your city hears you. Actions, not words.'

Mayor Bill de Blasio hailed the move, tweeting: ‘Your city hears you. Actions, not words.’

‘Shooting and murders are both climbing steadily upward, but our city leaders have clearly decided that proactive policing isn’t a priority anymore. They chose this strategy. 

‘They will have to reckon with the consequences.’

Mayor Bill de Blasio hailed the move, tweeting: ‘Your city hears you. Actions, not words.’ 

In recent weeks, officers with the anti-crime unit have been accused of excessive force.

In early May, a plain-clothes officer was placed on leave after video surfaced on social media showing him charging at bystanders on a Manhattan street with a Taser in his hand.

The officer was trying to enforce social distancing measures.

In March, officers were filmed violently arresting a man in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn. Video of the arrest went viral, prompting criticism of the officers. 

Shea said that the department decided on the reforms in the aftermath of weeks of unrest throughout the city. 

‘Thankfully, here in New York City, angry demonstrations have turned peaceful,’ Shea said on Monday.

‘Thoughtful discussions about reform have emerged.’

Shea added: ‘This is a seismic shift in the culture of how the NYPD polices this great city.

‘I would consider this in the realm of closing one of the last chapters of “Stop, Question and Frisk”…I think it’s time to more forward and change how we police in this city. 

‘We can do it with brains. We can do it with guile. We can move away from brute force.’ 

Shea said the move is ‘not without risk’ since anti-crime unit officers are often closest to criminals, according to WABC-TV.

The commissioner said it was possible that the move would result in fewer guns being taken off the streets. 

But Shea added that the risk is ‘squarely on my shoulders.’ 

The NYPD and police departments across the country have been on the defensive after the police-involved killing of Floyd and other black men and women ignited mass protests worldwide.

The death of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others have forced the American criminal justice system and its law enforcement agencies to re-examine its behavior toward African Americans. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday signed a package of major police reform bills including making disciplinary records public

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday signed a package of major police reform bills including making disciplinary records public

The unveiling of the bills was attended by (left to right) Rev. Al Sharpton, Dr. Hazel N. Dukes, Valerie Bell, Gwen Carr, and NY State Sen. Andrea Stewart- Cousins. Bell and Carr are the mothers of Sean Bell and Eric Garner - two unarmed black Americans who died at the hands of New York cops

The unveiling of the bills was attended by (left to right) Rev. Al Sharpton, Dr. Hazel N. Dukes, Valerie Bell, Gwen Carr, and NY State Sen. Andrea Stewart- Cousins. Bell and Carr are the mothers of Sean Bell and Eric Garner – two unarmed black Americans who died at the hands of New York cops

Activists supporting Black Lives Matter have even gone so far as to call for the abolition of police departments in favor of an alternative model of public safety. 

As many as 40 New York City police officers could face either misconduct or criminal charges after several protesters complained that they were victims of excessive force by cops in recent weeks, according to The New York Times. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law on Friday a sweeping package of police accountability measures that received new backing following protests over Floyd’s killing, including one allowing the release of officers’ long-withheld disciplinary records.

The measures were approved earlier this week by the state’s Democratic-led Legislature. 

Some of the bills had been proposed in years past and failed to win approval, but lawmakers moved with new urgency in the wake of massive, nationwide demonstrations over Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

‘Police reform is long overdue, and Mr. Floyd’s murder is only the most recent murder,’ Cuomo, a Democrat, said.

Cuomo was joined at the signing ceremony by the Rev. Al Sharpton, Valerie Bell, the mother of Sean Bell, who was killed by an officer in 2006, and Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who was killed by police in New York in 2014.

‘It was a long time coming, but it came,’ Carr said.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins thanks Carr and Bell ‘for being brave and strong.’ 

‘We are at a moment of reckoning. There is no doubt about it,’ she said.

Meanwhile, members of the New York City Council said they would work to cut $1billion in New York Police Department spending for the next fiscal year. 

The cuts would include overtime, headcount through attrition and shifting the department’s responsibilities, according to a joint council statement.

The governor was praised by Rev. Al Sharpton over the move, who had joined Cuomo along with State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie at the unveiling of the historic bill

The governor was praised by Rev. Al Sharpton over the move, who had joined Cuomo along with State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie at the unveiling of the historic bill

Sharpton and Cuomo at the 'historic' event. The package of bills, which the governor described as 'nation-leading' and 'aggressive', orders transparency of police records, bans chokeholds, bans false race-based 911 calls and makes the attorney general the independent prosecutor in killings of unarmed civilians by police

Sharpton and Cuomo at the ‘historic’ event. The package of bills, which the governor described as ‘nation-leading’ and ‘aggressive’, orders transparency of police records, bans chokeholds, bans false race-based 911 calls and makes the attorney general the independent prosecutor in killings of unarmed civilians by police

The proposed cut to the NYPD is about 15 per cent of the $6billion annual budget for department.

‘Our budget must reflect the reality that policing needs fundamental reform. Over the last few weeks, we have seen an outpouring of New Yorkers demanding change from their leaders,’ the statement said. 

‘It is our job to listen – and to act. We will not let this moment pass, and we will fight for the budget they deserve.’

The laws will ban police chokeholds, make it easier to sue people who call police on others without good reason, and set up a special prosecutor’s office to investigate the deaths of people during and following encounters with police officers.

‘These bills mean some substantive change, so that we won’t be sitting here going over this after the next funeral and after the next situation,’ Sharpton said.

NEW YORK’S POLICE REFORMS: 

The package of bills includes: 

  • A ban on chokeholds and use of the tactic being chargeable by up to 15 years in prison if it results in injury or death 
  • A repeal of the 50-a meaning police officer records must be public 
  • A ban on false race-based 911 calls 
  • All state police officers must wear body cameras
  • Cops must report any time they fire their weapon in which a person could have been hit within six hours of the incident
  • The attorney general is made the independent prosecutor in killings of unarmed civilians by police   

The New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative executive order:

The order requires local governments and police agencies to develop and adopt plans to reform local police departments. 

Police forces must adopt a plan by April 1 2021 to be eligible for future state funding and show that they have:  

1. Engaged stakeholders in a public and open process on policing strategies and tools

2. Presented a plan, by chief executive and head of the local police force, to the public for comment

3. After consideration of any comments, presented such plan to the local legislative body (council or legislature as appropriate) which has approved such plan (by either local law or resolution)

4. If such local government does not certify the plan, the police force may not be eligible to receive future state funding. 

Some bills, including body camera legislation, drew support from Republicans, who opposed legislation that repealed a state law long used to block the release of police disciplinary records over concerns about officers’ privacy.

Eliminating the law, known as Section 50-a, would make complaints against officers, as well as transcripts and final dispositions of disciplinary proceedings, public for the first time in decades.

NYPD spokesperson Sgt. Jessica McRorie said the department ‘will review the final version of the legislation and utilize it in a manner that ensures greater transparency and fairness.’

The state’s approximately 500 police departments will all have to come up with plans to address everything from use of force to implicit bias awareness training by next April under an executive order that Cuomo said he will issue Friday.

The governor said New York is the first to come up with such a plan and warned that police departments who fail to do so will not receive state aid.

Lynch, the PBA chief, said in a news release that Cuomo and the legislative leaders ‘have no business celebrating today.’

Lynch said police officers spend their days addressing the ‘failures’ of elected officials.

‘Now, we won’t even be able to do that,’ he said. 

‘We will be permanently frozen, stripped of all resources and unable to do the job.’

Cuomo has 10 days to act on other bills passed by lawmakers this week, including legislation prohibiting police from using racial profiling and another bill ensuring that individuals under arrest or in policy custody receive attention for medical and mental health needs.

Lawmakers also passed a bill to require New York to collect and report the race and other demographic details of individuals who are charged. 

The legislation says police departments must ‘promptly report’ to the state the death of any people who die in police custody and in an attempt to establish custody, and provide a demographic breakdown.

During this week’s legislative debates, many lawmakers relayed their personal experiences with police.

On Friday, Stewart-Cousins, who is the first black woman to lead the state Senate, said her youngest son was once stopped and frisked when he was 18 and said he ended up with a fractured nose.

‘Thank God I was able to bring him home,’ she said. 

‘Every parent, every mother who looks like me understood that scary notion with our kids, with our husbands, with our brothers.’

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he’s had ‘not-so-positive’ interactions with the police – from when he was young and even now as legislative leader.

‘Growing up when you heard the stories of Anthony Baez and Sean Bell and Eric Garner, as a black man, I felt that could be me,’ Heastie said.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk