Plainclothes NYPD Unit Hitting The Streets 'Within A Week': Adams

NEW YORK, NY — A controversial revival of the NYPD's plainclothes anti-crime teams will start "within a week or so," according to Mayor Eric Adams.

The mayor — who has been tight-lipped about an exact timeline for the new anti-crime unit — said in an appearance on Fox 5 on Monday that the first round of plainclothes officers will head out in about a week.

The plainclothes teams, originally phased out in 2020, are part of Adams' sweeping plan to address gun violence.

"Within a week or so, the commissioner said we have the first round of officers going through," the mayor told broadcasters. "They’re going to hit the streets."

Adams has promised that the revival of the anti-crime unit will help address concerns from social justice advocates, who have pointed to the previous unit's history of excessive force, specifically for Black and brown New Yorkers.

The mayor said Monday that the delay in rolling out the teams has been spent training the officers.

"We have to get this right," Adams said. "If you expeditiously have people in specialized units hit the streets without a very thorough well organized training you're really going to exacerbate the problem and I’m not going to do that."

Police have confirmed a list of 30 New York City commands that will get the anti-crime units, which Adams said will focus on areas that account for 80 percent of the city's gun violence.

The 30 precincts include the majority of the Bronx, a large portion of Central and Eastern Brooklyn, northern Staten Island, several Queens neighborhoods and most of Washington Heights and Harlem in Manhattan.

Among the changes Adams has promised is a more identifiable uniform for the officers, though they will still be in unmarked police cars. A memo obtained by The New York Post shows the department is planning vests or sweatshirts with NYPD clearly marked and patches with the officer's name, shield, rank and command.