NYPD Commissioner Calls for Commitment to Stop Crisis of Violent Crimes

By MARWA IKHAMAYES

Following the deaths of two 16-year-olds, in the Bronx and Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea appeared on PIX 11 News  and talked about the crisis taking over city streets.

Shea revealed his lack of sympathy for the idea of inmates, including teens, being put back on the streets without trial. “Most of the people unfortunately arrested right now don’t even go to court; they’re getting released,” said Shea. “It should not be that complicated to house inmates that are waiting for trial.”

Putting inmate kids back on the streets will only encourage more violence, he maintained. “What we’re doing is encouraging others to carry guns, because no one is being removed from the streets,” Shea said. “We are not helping these kids by putting them back on the street.”

The commissioner told PIX 11 that the police try to keep close watch on those released suspects who are allowed back on the streets.

Shea said the topic of Rikers Island jail, where inmates are kept pending trial or release on bail, is not strongly worthy of his time  attention, considering the crime crisis taking lives throughout the city. “Rikers is important, but it should not be the focus of what we’re talking about,” he said. “How many kids have to die before we fix these laws?”

The commissioner made it clear he cares deeply about police reform initiatives, but those youngsters living normal lives on the streets are higher up on his ladder of concerns than the ones at Rikers, he said. Shea maintained many politicians and activists are too focused on the New Yorkers in jail. What those activist do not show enough concern about, he said, “is 16-year-olds dying on the streets” after being shot.

Shea said these violent street crimes are tied to “laws that had been passed in the last two years,” including bail and prison reform laws.

Mass incarceration is admittedly a horrible social issue, but those bail and prison reform laws have to a rethought, he argued. The city needs “leadership and courage to say we need to fix these laws,” the commissioner said.