Revived Anti-Gun Teams Make 31 Arrests In First Week, Mayor Says

NEW YORK, NY —Controversial anti-crime teams revived under Mayor Eric Adams arrested dozens of people and confiscated nearly a dozen guns in their first week back in high-crime neighborhoods, according to city officials.

The anti-gun units — now called Neighborhood Safety Teams — arrested 31 people and confiscated 10 guns in the six days since they were deployed last Monday in 25 precincts behind the majority of the city's gun violence, Mayor Eric Adams and police said.

"More than a gun a day was removed from our streets," Adams said. "This is what precision policing is about."

The mayor and NYPD top brass gave little details Monday on how the Neighborhood Safety Teams' role in the arrests differed from general police response, with Adams refusing to answer directly whether the 31 suspects would have been caught without the new anti-gun units.

Adams would only go so far as to say the Neighborhood Safety Teams' ability to specialize on preventing gun violence in a specific precinct means they are able to "zero in" on perpetrators in a way regular police might not.

"It's a combination of knowledge of the precinct and neighborhood they’re in and how to zero in on those shooters and gang bangers," he said.

On top of the 10 gun possession charges, the 31 arrests made by the teams included felony assault, knife possession, criminal trespassing, forgery, reckless endangerment, suspended drivers' license and drug charges, according to NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell.

Sewell pointed out that 61 percent of those charged had a history of previous arrests, including 39 percent who had a history of narcotics or a drug-related arrest. About 23 percent of those arrested were on parole or probation and 26 percent had a link to gangs, Sewell said.

Adams and the NYPD have promised that the new anti-gun units would rectify "mistakes" of former plainclothes teams.

Those units were disbanded by former Mayor Bill de Blasio amid years of accusations of aggressive tactics, outright brutality and racist policing against Black and Brown New Yorkers.

People of color make up a majority in the 30 precincts — located in upper Manhattan, Central Brooklyn, the majority of The Bronx and parts of Queens and Staten Island — that will see new anti-gun teams, census data show.

Twenty-five out of 30 precincts saw the new units deployed last week. Adams said Monday the teams are ready to expand to remaining five, which include the 25th and 28th precinct in Manhattan, Brooklyn's 69th precinct, Staten Island's 120th precinct and Queens' 114th precinct.