The gun violence in New York City shows no signs of letting up.
In 14 minutes on Monday in Brooklyn, there were three drive-by shootings, all part of a violent day that saw a total of 14 shootings with 18 victims throughout the city.
At his briefing Tuesday, Mayor De Blasio was asked if Police Commissioner Dermot Shea should be fired if he cannot get the situation under control.
“Dermot Shea is one of the people that made this city safe and helped us find a way through extraordinarily challenging circumstances, he felt and I agreed with him that it was important to make a change in our strategy to use the talents of our officers in new and better ways.”
De Blasio was referring to the disbanding of the NYPD’s anti-crime unit. Gun violence has surged in the weeks since. That unit was dedicated to getting guns off the streets. But the mayor downplayed the significance of ending the anti-crime unit.
“All NYPD officers are involved in anti-crime, that’s the nature of the work, and that unit is hundreds of people in a force of 36,000, and the fact is that there are numerous, numerous efforts being made to stop violence, including stopping the supply of guns to begin with.”
When asked exactly what the city is doing to try to stop the shootings, De Blasio pointed to strategies that have worked in the past to stop gun violence.
“The NYPD shifted resources to where the need is greatest, used Comstat to perfect strategies, we called upon communities to get involved and that’s particularly what we’ve done in the last seven years, is get communities more deeply involved in fighting back against the violence.”