New York City Mayor Eric Adams To Combat Gun Violence Through Anti-Crime Policies Following The Death of Two Police Officers

New York City Mayor Eric Adams laid out an ambitious plan to combat gun violence on Monday, following a series of high-profile incidents of violence during his first three weeks in office.

Adams looks into increasing officers on patrol and combating the influx of guns into the city, as well as encouraging prosecutors to move forward with gun charges earlier and creating jobs for high-risk residents.

Following the murder of a New York Police Department officer responding to a domestic situation late last week, the plan was released. According to officials, five NYPD cops have been killed this month, with Jason Rivera being the first to die.

Mayor Adams unveils plan to end gun violence

With "targeted, precision policing," the strategy will use the New York Police Department to focus on the 30 precincts where the majority of the violence occurs and extend the anti-violence Crisis Management System (CMS) to treat the symptoms of gun violence. The proposal also asks for greater state and federal resources. As Adams has already stated, he intends to increase the number of NYPD police on the streets while reducing the number of cops on the desk, as per CNN.

As Chief of Department Ken Corey said earlier this month, the new squads called "Neighborhood Safety Teams" will replace the uniformed Public Safety Teams in neighborhoods where shootings are the most prevalent. Additionally, Adams said the plan will involve a stronger police presence in the subway system, a move that was announced on Jan. 6 by the mayor and Governor Kathy Hochul.

At a gun violence discussion in the Bronx on Saturday, Adams made his comprehensive idea public for the first time. In recent days, Adams has attributed some of the blame for the Big Apple gun violence on the federal government, in addition to committing to implement local initiatives.

Five NYPD policemen have been shot in the line of duty since Adams was inaugurated as mayor on January 1. A newborn girl was shot in the face during his first weeks in office, and a mentally ill man killed a lady by putting her in front of a moving subway train.

New York city police shootings

Officer Jason Rivera, 22, was gunned and killed on a domestic call in Harlem on Friday evening, the latest in a long line of unpleasant deaths. Wilbert Mora, a 27-year-old police officer, was still fighting for his life at NYU Langone Hospital on Sunday.

According to police sources, suspect Lashawn McNeil, 47, shot the policemen with an illegal Glock handgun with an unlawful "high-capacity magazine" and kept a loaded AR-type weapon beneath his bed. Meanwhile, Hochul stated on Sunday that the first meeting of her new task group on illicit firearms will take place on Wednesday, according to NewYork Post.

From the inside, as reported by The New York Times, Adams, who was formerly a police captain, was at times an outspoken critic of the department. Amadou Diallo, an unarmed Black man, was shot and murdered by cops on his front doorstep in 1999, and he even played a role in the reaction against plainclothes units.

However, Adams and Keechant Sewell, the incoming police commissioner, have stated that the team would be rebranded as a "anti-gun squad" that will wear body cameras and target illicit guns and gun activities. The shooting is the latest in a series of heinous incidents that have shaken the nation's most populated city and its 36,000-strong police department.

A 19-year-old cashier was shot to death while working a late-night shift at a Burger King, a lady was shoved to her death at a subway station, and a baby was gravely injured by a stray gunshot while in a parked car with her mother in the three weeks after Adams took office. Four police officers had been shot on the same day since the incident in Harlem on Friday night. Lashawn J. McNeil, 47, the guy, whom the police believe, opened fire on Friday was also badly wounded and sent to the hospital, Mail Online reported.