Eric Adams’ plan to focus on law enforcement strategies—as opposed to more community-led initiatives—has some community leaders in New York City concerned, writes JosiahBates
ric Adams, the new mayor of New York City, announced on Jan. 24 a detailed plan aiming to end gun violence in his city. Adams, a former police officer and Brooklyn borough president, made public safety one of the tentpoles of his campaign, amid much attention to a national rise in gun violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan calls for collaboration with state officials, federal partners and agencies and the Biden administration. In New York City specifically, the policy changes and proposals include an increase in patrol officers within the 30 precincts where 80% of the city’s violence occurs. “[Mayor Adams] is very much relying on law enforcement. He comes from a law enforcement background so I can see why he relies on these strategies in this plan but it’s not getting at the root causes enough,” Carl Hamad-Lipscombe, executive director of Envision Freedom Fund, a Brooklyn-based bail fund tells TIME. “It’s reminiscent of policies from the 90s. New Yorkers have a long memory. We remember how these policies played out. We remember feeling like our communities were under siege.
The blueprint does include plans to address wider socio-cultural issues such as employment opportunities, access to health care services and improving education programs. However, these are mostly couched as longer-term goals and in vaguer terms. Some activists have gone as far as labeling them “window dressing,” compared with the more immediate focus on police work.
“You have to work with [credible community members]. You have to use them as a tool to get at those individuals who are more likely to be involved in violence,” Ford says.But while the plan does offer this support for an important program that addresses gun violence, it could also force some at-risk youth into the criminal justice system—specifically, young people who are arrested with guns.
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