New York Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced a wide-ranging plan to combat gun violence after a violent 72 hours in the city that saw four police officers shot, including one fatally.
“We are going to do a lot more than pray. We are going to turn our pain into purpose,” Mr. Adams said in remarks from City Hall. “We will not surrender our city to the violent few … and we won’t go back to the bad old days.”
Mr. Adams vowed to crack down on illegal guns by dispatching officers to 30 precincts where he said 80% of the violence takes place. He also pledged to boost funding for the NYPD’s Gun Violence Suppression Division that targets gun traffickers.
“We will have boots on the ground on every block in the city,” he said.
NYPD Officer Jason Rivera was shot and killed Friday night in Harlem while responding to a domestic violence call between a woman and her adult son. Another responding officer, Wilbert Mora, was critically injured and remains hospitalized.
Last week, an officer on Staten Island underwent surgery while being shot in the leg and another officer was also shot in the leg while trying to collar a teenage suspect in the Bronx.
The shootings in New York are part of a spate of attacks on police nationwide with about two dozen police shot since the start of the year.
Mr. Adams said the NYPD also will deploy new technology that helps identify people who are carrying guns and alert officers to the threat.
He promised social safety net remedies, including expanding summer youth programs, increasing aid for adults who’ve aged out of foster care and pushing for “community hiring” legislation that would mandate more local jobs.
Mr. Adams said there should be stricter penalties for gun trafficking and called on state lawmakers to close gun loopholes that prevent older teens charged with gun crimes from being tried in criminal court.
“Officers are doing heroic work, getting guns off the streets, but traffickers keep the guns coming. That must end. We must stop the flow of illegal guns in our city. The ’iron pipeline’ must be broken,” he said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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