Wednesday 3 August 2022 07:15 PM Mayor Eric Adams says New Yorkers want MORE cops on the street as murders and ... trends now
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said New Yorkers want more police on the streets to help combat the sweeping crime wave that has seen murders and violent crimes up 40% compared to last year.
'Public safety and the criminal justice system includes police and when I go to my communities of color, and I’ve never heard them, never, heard them say: "Eric we want less police." Never,' Adams said on the Tavis Smiley radio show Tuesday.
Major crimes in NYC have risen approximately 37%, according to NYPD data, an increase that has been mainly boosted by grand larcenies, robberies and auto thefts.
Adams indicated he won't be entertaining calls to decrease the number of cops in the city, but will discourage 'heavy-handed' policing from NYPD officers.
Police officers are part of the mayor's 'public safety apparatus,' he said, adding: 'You can't remove police from this equation,' which includes dealing with the issues around homelessness and improving the school system.
He added that he doesn't plan to stop talking about the crime in the Big Apple anytime soon, and said 'I’m not going to be inconsistent and not talk about the violence that has happened in our cities every day. We need police to do their job.'
Police officers are part of the mayor's 'public safety apparatus,' New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, adding: 'You can't remove police from this equation'
Surveillance photo of the suspect wanted for killing 19-year-old Kristal Bayron-Nieves while robbing a Burger King for just $100
Police arrest people protesting against President Trump supporters marching down Broadway carrying a giant Trump flag on October 21, 2020 in lower Manhattan
Adams emphasized the necessity of preventative measures rather than reactive measures, and said 'by the time a child picks up a gun, we've already lost.'
While murders in the city are down 5.6%, robbery is up 39.2%, from 6,530 to 9,091, and burglaries increased by 32.9%, from 6,251 to 8,305, according to NYPD data.
Felonious assault rose by 18.6% and rapes saw an 11% increase so far this year over 2021.
'It appears there's a normalization to this violence, and we're saying no to that,' Adams told Smiley. The Mayor said reforming a system takes time, and 'when you look at how to reform a system, you don't destroy a system.'
Adams has been a vociferous supporter of an expansion in the city's police presence since becoming mayor in 2021, doubling the number of cops on the city's subway and bringing back plain-clothes officers in new Neighborhood Safety Teams.
He aims to prevent brutal crimes like the murder of 19-year-old Kristal
