Former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton And Others Express Concern Over New York City's Handling Of Violent Crimes
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling on Congress to stop the flow of illegal guns but has otherwise offered few new solutions as violence continues to scar the city.
Even hizzoner's first police commissioner has joined the chorus of concern, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported Monday.
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There was increased security at the Crossroads of the World after a weekend of violence sent three innocent bystanders to the hospital with gunshot wounds. But de Basio offered the same solutions he has been offering over and over again every time violence erupts in the city.
"We know that in the end that we need a combination of precision policing and neighborhood policing," de Blasio said.
To some it doesn't seem enough, not in the face of escalating violence.
A 43-year-old Ecuadorian tourist was stabbed with a screwdriver on the subway on Sunday night.
A 60-year-old was pushed onto the tracks Saturday night at the 135th Street/Lenox Ave. subway station.
And then there's the seemingly non-stop gun violence.
The latest crime statistics show a 169% increase in shooting victims last week -- 43 compared to 16 at this point in 2020.
Even de Blasio's first police commissioner, Bill Bratton, is getting into the act, tweeting, "More broken windows -- thanks to our political leadership and their failing efforts at reform there are more victims to add to the growing toll. At the rate New York and the country are going there won't be many windows left to break."
Security expert Manny Gomez shudders when he hears the mayor talk about precision policing in connection with the Times Square shooting.
"I don't think he even knows what that means. What is precision policing? This is Times Square. It's a circle of steel, thousands of cameras, hundreds of police officers, and yet this event still happened. Why? Because the bad guys feel brazen enough to commit this act of violence in the middle of the day," Gomez said.
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He was also critical of de Blasio's call for Congress to do something to stop the flow of illegal guns into the city.
"Blaming it on others is ridiculous because New York City has its own intelligence department, its own resources to eradicate this problem," Gomez said.
Gomez said the mayor has to show he supports the police, has to stop handcuffing them, and work to repeal some of the laws that, he said, make cops afraid to do their jobs.
