The decision by the New York Police Department (NYPD) to eliminate undercover, plainclothes officers will "be the demise" of New York City, a retiring NYPD detective predicted.
The detective, who has 20 years at the NYPD, told the New York Post that eliminating anti-crime, plainclothes officer unit will lead to more crime and violence across the city which has seen its crime rate skyrocket in recent weeks.
The detective also blasted Mayor Bill de Blasio for having “absolutely no idea what policing is,” specifically in the city’s crime-ridden neighborhoods. This month, de Blasio vowed to cut funding to the NYPD in a move praised by advocates of the “Defund the Police” movement.
Despite acknowledging that the plainclothes officers were critical in getting illegal guns off the streets, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced earlier this month that the city would be disbanding its anti-crime, plainclothes officer unit and reassigning its 600 officers to new units within the department.
The detective told the Post:
That is going to be the demise of the city.In the last week, New York City has seen close to 60 shootings with at least 81 shooting victims.
Anti-crime guys are the guys are the guys who the real bad guys are looking out for. Anti-crime guys are going to drive around in not just unmarked cars. They’ll come around in other cars, rentals that the city gets that you wouldn’t think are police cars.
When you’re a really bad guy, and I’m talking about really bad guys, who won’t think twice about taking another life. When they step out of the car, those were the cops who they are afraid of.
The detective said the shootings are skyrocketing because violent criminals “are out there carrying guns freely now — without fear.”
In the last week, there has been a more than 340 percent increase in shootings in New York City with a more than 400 percent increase in shooting victims compared to the same time last year. Over the last month, shootings have increased 86 percent with a 101 percent increase in shooting victims.
Meanwhile, according to figures released to the New York Post, about 272 NYPD uniformed officers have filed for retirement since riots erupted in the city over the past month. At the same time last year, about 183 officers had filed for retirement, indicating a nearly 50 percent spike in retirements this year.
One officer, who wanted to wait to retire until he hit 30 years with the NYPD, told the Post: “It’s an all-out war on cops and we have no support.” More than 300 officers were injured in the recent riots.
Free Press International
