Yahoo! News
Leaders in the black community are calling on the New York Police Department to bring back the plainclothes Anti-Crime Unit that was eliminated last month as shootings and murders spike across the city.
About 600 undercover officers from the unit were set to be transferred to other assignments including detective work and policing neighborhoods, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said a month ago. The anti-crime unit, which was responsible for getting guns off the streets, had been criticized as stoking distrust in law enforcement in minority communities.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, one of the African-American voices calling for action on gun violence, criticized the police force’s decision to completely disband the unit. He deplored the recent deadly shooting of a one-year-old, one of the victims of New York City’s recent spike in gun violence.
“I think that a total elimination is something we need to reevaluate,” Adams said, CBS New York reported. “Right now, bad guys are saying if you don’t see a blue and white you can do whatever you want.”
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