Mayor Adams names new gun violence prevention task force made up of civilians
NEW YORK -- Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday named a new gun violence prevention task force, selecting a community organizer and long-time community-based violence interrupter as a co-chair.
As CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer explains, the goal is to take a different approach than the NYPD.
The move by the mayor comes at the start of the summer when the city traditionally experiences a dramatic spike in gun violence and more cops are put on the street to get guns, but the role of this task force is different. It's to prevent shootings before they take place using a variety of methods.
"You know what, when they do their job, you're going to be able to live in a safer city. That's what we're gonna do," Adams said.
Adams forcefully defended his decision to establish a gun violence prevention task force made up of civilians, not cops, to go into high crime areas to try to prevent shootings before they start.
"The uniqueness of these crisis management teams is their ability to say they're not city employees. That they're able to sit down and they're not going to be restricted in how they interact with those they're trying to get guns out of their hands," he said.
The move comes as the mayor has had a hard time stopping gun violence. Yes, the NYPD has removed 3,000 guns from the street since he took office, and yes, the number of shooting incidents are down 10 percent since the start of the year -- 502 through the end of May compared to 558 in 2021 -- but many people still don't feel safe.
The mayor thinks the violence interrupters can stop the gun violence using different tactics than the NYPD. They mediate and de-escalate disputes, steer people to jobs and identify gaps in city services that can make a difference.
"This is like a different way. If you was trying to stop someone that's carrying a gun that doesn't have a home to sleep in, don't have anything to eat, living in a shelter, and you try to go to them and say, 'Well, you know what, I've got this philosophical principle that I learned in my theoretical class,' man, people will say, 'Get out of my face.' They got this unique way based on their life experiences," Adams said.
The task force co-chair, the gun violence czar, will be A.T. Mitchell, the founder of Man Up, a community crisis management group. Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright is the other co-chair.
"We have a very serious, dangerous mission, you know. We're going into the first summer since the pandemic, and as we know, there's a lot of issues that are going on already, and if all indicators are correct, it looks like it's going to be a pretty busy summer," Mitchell said.
The mayor was asked about his decision to pick Mitchell in light of a 2019 DOI report that criticized some of his organization's management practices. The mayor says he's known Mitchell for 30 years and that he's more concerned about the number of DOAs from gun violence than the DOI.
Watch: Manhattan DA announces youth gun violence prevention initiative
Meanwhile, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced new funding for gun violence prevention. The DA says his office will award $20,000 to up to ten community-based organizations with engaging programs for youth.
The money will go toward paying stipends for young New Yorkers participating in meaningful programming or to enhance and beautify public spaces that are known locations for gun violence.
