Cuomo blames POLICE for crime wave: New York governor says cops must address ‘lack of trust’ in communities as Big Apple shootings surge 82% and threatens to pull funding for NYPD if reforms are not in place next year
By Maxine Shen
Daily Mail
August 18, 2020
Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted the recent surge in gun violence in New York City and
the state as an 'urgent crisis' that he blamed squarely on police
departments because they have done 'very little' to come up with reform
plans.
He also threatened to pull
funding from up to 500 departments across the state if they do not have
plans in place by April 2021.
Cuomo
raised the growing lawlessness during his Monday press conference where
he revealed in New York City murders are up 29 per cent, while shootings
are up 79 per cent year to date.
He then broke down the percentage increases of shootings within each
borough as compared to previous year data, noting that shootings are up
60 per cent in The Bronx, 102 per cent in Brooklyn, 54 per cent in
Manhattan, 75 per cent in Queens and 108 per cent in Staten Island.
The NYPD, on Monday, released its
own shooting violence figures - which were higher than Cuomo's numbers -
stating that year to date, shootings are up 82.1 per cent and murders
are up 30.2 per cent.
'You cannot
dismiss these numbers,' Cuomo said Monday during a press conference.
'You cannot look at this reality and say it doesn’t exist, because the
reality is so clear.'
Cuomo said that in NYC, data showed that more than 90 per cent of the victims 'are black and brown.'
'You
want to talk about social justice? You want to talk about civil rights?
You want to talk about social equity? How do you explain that?' Cuomo
said, of the substantial uptick in shootings with minority victims.
'It’s not just New York City. It’s all across the nation,' Cuomo added.
Shootings have risen in states and major
cities all across America in recent months, with New York City and
Chicago often reporting notably higher levels of gun violence
incidents.
The increase in shootings
have coincided with the easing up of coronavirus lockdown restrictions,
large-scale protests against police brutality, continued mass
unemployment and the natural, annual increase in violence during summer
months.
Cuomo noted that NYC wasn't
alone in having an increase in shootings, however - upstate New York has
also seen a 70 per cent increase in the year to date.
In
Albany, shooting violence was up 240 per cent, in Buffalo it was up 66
per cent, in Rochester it was 54 per cent and in Syracuse it was up 130
per cent, Cuomo said.
As part of the
effort to get the number of shootings down, Cuomo said that he was
sending a letter to 500 police department jurisdictions, 'explaining
that it is imperative that we address this urgent crisis' involving the
tension between police and local communities.
Like coronavirus which was hard to deal with, he said, this 'also a matter of life and death.'
Cuomo
said that although he had made an executive order on June 12, insisting
that the individual police jurisdictions adopt a reform plan by April
1, 2021, 'very little had been done' so far - hence the letter.
'We
have an issue and we have to address the issue,' Cuomo said, also
noting that 'denial is not a successful life strategy, not in
government, not in your personal life.'
He
said that New York State 'does not run from a crisis, it's not what we
do. It's not who we are. We're not going to deny that this is a crisis.
'What
do we do in a crisis? Leaders lead and leaders act. This is a time for
leadership and action. Acknowledge the tensions. They're real,' he said,
noting that there are real issues on both sides of the table, between
police and community members.
Cuomo said that it was necessary to get
both sides to the table to create police departments that can actually
carry out a public safety function 'because divorce is not an option.'
'The relationship is based on trust and respect and the relationship is ruptured,' Cuomo said of police and community members.
'But
divorce is not an option here. Divorce is not an option. You can't say,
'We don't need any police. End the police department.' Oh really? And
then what happens at 2 o'clock in the morning when someone is coming
through the window and you hear the glass break?' Cuomo asked.
'So divorce is not an option. You have to resolve the tensions and reconcile.'
Cuomo
said that his letter to each of the police jurisdictions decreed that
if they didn't come up with a 're-imagined police department' by the
April deadline, the state would not be providing future funding to
them.
'I'm trying to force attention
and focus and action on this issue,' Cuomo said. 'People are getting
shot everyday, it's getting worse, not better. We have to act.'
2 comments:
Cuomo is a clueless, brain dead political hack. He killed thousands of old folks with his Covid-19 policy and this no-bail bullshit is responsible for at least several more dead bodies, outright murder victims, maybe several dozen more.
Is Cuomo really that stupid? I guess it doesn't matter when those who elect him are.
Post a Comment