The NYPD continues to report crime decreases across the five boroughs, but bullets are still flying across too many communities in the Big Apple this spring.
Last weekend alone saw three shootings in as many days in Brooklyn, leaving one dead and five people injured. In Harlem on Sunday night, a man was struck and killed by a stray bullet while he sat at a street corner. That happened a week after a 16-year-old girl in the Bronx died in a similar fashion, struck down with a stray shot fired by teenagers engaged in what cops called a “schoolyard fight.”
“It seems like every time the sun comes out, the guns come out,” said Reverend Kevin McCall, a community activist in Brooklyn, at a Monday press conference with the family of Zanir Childs, who was killed in one of the borough’s double shootings last weekend.
McCall’s statement is sad but true. The city sees more gun violence in the spring and summer, with more people on the street to enjoy warmer, beautiful weather. And it’s important to note that McCall and residents in other communities across the city that have witnessed traumatic incidents of gun violence in recent days have called on the city and NYPD to do more to patrol their neighborhoods and keep them safe.
The mayor and the NYPD, we believe, will hear those calls and surge additional resources into areas hardest hit by gun violence, as it has done to great effect in places like Brownsville, Brooklyn. Last year, after a surge of shootings in the spring, the NYPD boosted manpower in the community to target gun and gang violence, and the extra resources kept shootings at a minimal level during the summer.
More surges are needed this summer in areas of Brooklyn and the Bronx that require the extra help. Of course, the NYPD is dealing with a historic staffing crisis that can’t be resolved overnight while tackling transit crime and other responsibilities.
It might be a good opportunity for City Hall to work with Albany on securing additional state police assistance just for the summer to help supplement the NYPD’s crime-fighting efforts citywide.
City Hall and the NYPD should also work more closely with violence interrupter programs and offer more youth programs, such as the successful “Saturday Night Lights” athletic initiative, to help keep local children safe and away from crime.
Gun violence is not out of control in New York, but one shooting that happens is one too many. And gun violence in one community is not acceptable. Every New Yorker deserves to live in peace and security. City Hall and the NYPD must see to it that the goal is achieved regardless of the season.
