Crime may be down, but Mayor Eric Adams is dealing with skyrocketing number of assaults on NYPD officers
NEW YORK -- At the halfway point in his four-year term, Mayor Eric Adams is taking a victory lap as a crimefighter, saying he kept a campaign promise to make the streets safer.
But while gun crimes have nosedived, the new crime victims are are the police, themselves.
The mayor had a mantra on Wednesday: crime is down, jobs are up, and tourism is booming. But one thing the NYPD admits it's struggling with is protecting its own. Assaults on cops have increased dramatically. CBS New York asked the mayor why.
"There's just an erosion of expectation of authority, this feeling that you don't have to respect the authority of this city," Adams said.
The mayor was responding to what is clearly one of the biggest trouble spots for him and the NYPD as they seek to patrol the streets and deal with gun crimes, hate crimes, demonstrations, and keep the subways safe. Assaults are up in general and assaults against cops are skyrocketing.
There were 4,077 assaults against cops during the first three months of 2023, a 41% increase from the 2,886 incidents in 2021. The injuries ranged from Category 1, cuts and bruises; Category 2, stitches and knocked-out teeth; to the most serious, Category 3, cops who were shot, stabbed or had broken bones.
"There's just this attitude of a small number of people who are repeated offenders that believe they don't have to live in the city or order. They believe they can do whatever they want," Adams said.
Police officials also blame criminal justice reform for going easy on those who attack cops.
"Only about 8% of the arrest population for assault actually does any kind of jail. Pre-criminal justice reform, that was over 20%," said Michael LiPetri, the NYPD's chief of crime control and strategies.
"New York City police officers are getting viciously attacked and injured because of the message on the streets," added PBA President Patrick Hendry. "The message is that the system favors criminals over cops."
However, Mayor Adams took it a step further, pointing fingers not only at progressive lawmakers in Albany and New York City, but at an apathetic electorate -- people who don't vote to get what he thinks are the right people in office.
"New York is at a crossroads. I think that there are a lot of apathy, a lot of people believe that their vote matters, and they're unable to understand the connection between who's in office and how it impacts your quality of life," Adams said.
The mayor refused to say whether he would personally campaign against the lawmakers he thinks are responsible for what he feels are anti-police bills. He did single out Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for a series of reforms he recently got the City Council to pass. Williams said the mayor is misrepresenting his bills and sounded "like a 5-year-old throwing a temper tantrum."