Subway crime plan, mental health training among NYPD commissioner's top 2025 initiatives
NEW YORK -- Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch delivered the annual State of the NYPD address on Thursday, outlining the department's priorities and challenges ahead.
The speech was a chance for Tisch to talk about what's working, what's not, and to put forth her vision for 2025.
Tisch highlights 4 new initiatives
The commissioner announced several initiatives, including zone-based policing, a new three-part subway crime plan, the introduction of a quality-of-life division, and expanded mental health training.
Tisch highlighted overall index crime being down in 2024, adding shooting incidents are down 28% so far this year. She attributed it to zone-based policing, saying 650 additional officers have been deployed from desk jobs into high-crime areas.
She said the quality-of-live division will target offenders that commit low-level crimes, which the Adams administration says will create a more pleasant city. The division will feature "Q teams" responding to complaints and Q-Stat tracking monitoring issues citywide.
"When neighborhoods are plagued by issues such as aggressive panhandling, unruly street vending, public urination, abandoned vehicles, it gives the impression of an unsafe community," Tisch said. "For too long, we asked our cops to correct these conditions without sufficient direction. No more."
The New York Civil Liberties Union says this new policy will lead to profiling and harassment of poor Black and Brown people. In a statement, the NYCLU said, "This will result in even more time and resources being spent processing low-level arrests and summonses when those resources could have been better spent investing in the types of services that actually make New Yorkers' lives better."
As for subway safety, the commissioner said the three-part plan will address crime in the transit system by redeploying 200 officers to trains and platforms, where she says 78% of underground crime occurs.
Tisch said officers assigned to trains will move from car-to-car and "address conditions as they encounter them."
"These moves are already showing results. In January, major crime in transit is down 36% from last year and 29% below pre-pandemic levels. But people still don't feel safe, so part two of the plan began in full this week, when hundreds of officers, many of whom were previously working desk jobs, were deployed into our subway system, enabling us to post two cops on every overnight train," Tisch said.
Tisch warned the NYPD's progress, including a second straight year of overall crime declines, is being undermined by repeat offenders and she blamed justice reforms.
"Unacceptable surge in the number of individuals arrested three times or more for the same crime in the same year. It's demoralizing. It's nuts. It's evidence of a broken system," Tisch said.
Tisch said she's also working to boost morale, acknowledging the NYPD is still recovering from defund-the-police movements. She said she is working to boost recruitment back to 35,000 officers and that the department is adding more crisis intervention.
"The NYPD responds to about 180,000 jobs involving a person in mental distress every year. To put it bluntly, our cops need better tactics," she said.
The commissioner also reiterated that the NYPD will not participate in immigration enforcement, but she made it clear that criminals will be held accountable, regardless of immigration status.
- Read more: ICE agents in NYC area take at least 20 people into custody in early morning operation, sources say
Mayor Eric Adams attends speech, shoots down rumors
Gov. Kathy Hochul was in attendance and Mayor Eric Adams made his first public appearance since announcing Sunday his limited schedule due to an undisclosed illness, but he did not take questions at the event. Later, he spoke at a faith breakfast and squashed rumors he is stepping down amid his corruption probe.
"Who started this stupid rumor that I was stepping down on Friday? Are you out of your mind?" Adams said. "And you know what's fascinating? You have to be of a great level of wisdom to understand what is playing out on the great stage of politics in New York City."
The mayor's appearance came one day after sources confirmed to CBS News that senior Justice Department officials have held discussions with federal prosecutors in Manhattan about the possibility of dropping the charges against him.
Adams did not go into details about the medical tests he is undergoing, only saying, "Last week was a scary week for me. It was hard."
The mayor did respond to criticism of his support for the city's immigrant community amid former President Trump's calls for mass deportations.
"What you did for 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers in this city, and to hear people say we are anti-immigrant? Are you out of your mind?" Adams said.