An officer within the High quality of Life division patrols Coney Island.
Photograph by Dean Moses
New Yorkers love their metropolis, however they’re very clear about what they don’t love about residing right here: noise, trash, unlawful merchandising, open-air drug use, reckless driving, double parking, and different on a regular basis offenses. These and lots of different quality-of-life points have an effect on not simply the truth of public security, however the feeling of security that makes life in our metropolis potential.
As now we have so typically stated, public security is about extra than simply crime statistics; it’s about what individuals see and really feel once they stroll out their entrance door. That’s the reason, earlier this 12 months, we launched a pilot program launching our new NYPD High quality of Life Division, and the primary 60 days have been a powerful success.
In simply six pilot instructions, our localized, precinct-based “Q-Teams” have answered greater than 7,500 complaints for quality-of-life associated offenses. Utilizing “Q-Stat” — a program modeled after CompStat — our Q-teams have made greater than 350 arrests and issued over 6,100 summonses. They’ve towed almost 3,500 deserted automobiles, seized roughly 200 unlawful e-bikes, mopeds and scooters, shut down problematic smoke outlets, cleaned up encampments, and helped individuals residing on the streets join with providers.
The affect was speedy and plain, and now we’re gearing as much as broaden our Q-teams citywide. Beginning subsequent month, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn will begin seeing Q-teams on the streets, combating the low-level crime, dysfunction and chaos that, left unchecked, can undermine public security and public confidence. Queens, Staten Island, and all remaining Police Service Areas will comply with shortly in August.
This growth can’t occur quickly sufficient. Once we take a look at what these groups have already achieved in simply two months and all the issues that they’ve solved, it’s clear why we’re scaling it up on such an aggressive timeline.
However whereas our timeline could also be aggressive, our strategies and motivations will not be. These efforts will not be about making arrests or bringing again the “broken windows” fashion policing of the previous; it’s about responding to actual complaints from actual individuals in actual time, and fixing the problems they’re coping with each day. This program isn’t about making arrests; it’s about making a distinction.
Since day one, our administration has been clear: We is not going to tolerate an environment the place something goes, and now we have made file progress in delivering a safer metropolis for New Yorkers. We at the moment are in our sixth straight quarter of lowering crime, with the bottom variety of shootings and homicides in recorded historical past for the primary 5 months of this 12 months.
The truth is that the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers haven’t been the sufferer of crime; most haven’t even witnessed one. However what all of us have lived with is the sluggish and gradual breakdown of the issues that make a neighborhood really feel like residence. That’s what our Q-Groups are out to vary. Going ahead, New Yorkers could be assured that we’re addressing chaos and dysfunction every time we discover it. Whether or not it’s scooters flying down the sidewalk, noise that retains you up at evening, or an deserted automotive that hasn’t moved in a month, our Q-Groups will reply.
We’re dedicated to maintaining New York the most secure large metropolis in America, and the very best place to boost a household. We’re doing that by making it even safer, cleaner, and extra aware of the individuals who stay and work right here. We’ll maintain listening and we’ll maintain adapting, working intently with communities to construct neighborhoods the place everybody feels secure and at residence.
