New York City Mayor Eric Adams says his fellow Democrats have to take a balanced view of policing and cannot only cry “Black Lives Matter” when it is a police officer who does the shooting.
Mr. Adams, who became mayor after campaigning on public safety, said people of color want to see good policing that is not abusive. But he said his party has spoken about that balance poorly, making it seem soft on crime.
“Democrats don’t like talking about intervention,” Mr. Adams, 61, told Anderson Cooper on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “But we have to lean into the discomfort of the immediate things we must do. Because you can’t say ’Black Lives Matter’ when a police officer shoots a young person — but does that Black life matter when a 12-year-old baby was shot?”
He was referring to a boy who recently was killed while eating in a car in Brooklyn when persons in vehicles nearby exchanged gunfire.
Mr. Adams has spoken about taking a pragmatic middle ground between progressive reforms that are seen as anti-police and “broken windows” policing from the era of former Republican Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani that was viewed as discriminatory toward minorities.
“They have allowed Rudy Giuliani to hijack something that the overwhelming number of people of color want,” Mr. Adams said. “They will tell you, ’We want our police. We don’t want our police to be abusive.’ And that is the balance that I know we can do in this — in this city.”
The outspoken mayor is still trying to follow through on his promise to restore safety in the city. While murders are down slightly this year, crimes are up in most major categories and a recent subway shooting sparked alarm about the transit system.
Mr. Adams insisted he is making progress.
“We’ve moved 1,800 guns off the streets of our city since I’ve been elected,” he told CBS. “1,800. And so we’re putting in place the foundation of dealing with the immediate needs of violence, but we’re also stopping the pipeline that causes children to get involved in violence.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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