The officers, 251 of them Latinos, graduated this Monday, in the midst of the crime wave that is plaguing the Big Apple, and the call of the Mayor and the authorities is to save the city
It is a fact. Crime in New York City continues to rise, as despite the drop in shootings and murders in the last month, other serious crimes in general continue to generate a lot of concern, with an overall rise of 15.2% in crime, according to data. of the Big Apple police.
And in their desire to have more uniformed officers in the five boroughs, fighting crime, a total of 637 new officers graduated this Monday in the middle of a ceremony that took place in the county of Queens, where the call was for save the city The Latino presence among the new police officers was quite extensive, since 251 of those recently graduated from the Academy who will wear the blue uniform are Latino, that is, 40%, which shows the increase in the participation of members of the community Hispanic woman in one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the world.
This was stated by the NYPD Commissioner, Keechant Sewell, who officially welcomed the new agents to the Police Force, who will increase the force of some 35,000 police officers, of which 30% are Hispanic, which is quite representative. with the percentage of Latino New Yorkers currently in the Big Apple, estimated at 29%
“Let there be no doubt: this is a call to save your neighbors, your communities, and a call from every New Yorker so they can live, work, walk or just take the train, without fear; it is our duty to give them what they deserve and the NYPD is not going to give in on that,” the official told the new police officers, who were accompanied by friends and family.
The NYPD Commissioner was aware that the eyes of the public are constantly on the actions of the police, so she reinforced the message that in the development of their work, they move with the principles that were instilled in them in the police academy.
“This job requires integrity, compassion, bravery, self-judgment and strength. We ask you to be strong and fair. People depend on you for their safety; you will be under scrutiny many times in a fair way and others in an unfair way (…) you will make New York a stronger city, defending those who cannot do it for themselves”, said the high official. “There will be criticism and skepticism to do what is right. We are going to take back the city… Decide what differences you are going to make, what changes you are going to promote and what lives you are going to impact.”
The new faces that will begin to carry out patrolling and surveillance tasks in the streets, stations, neighborhoods, and other work areas of the NYPD, an entity that has been in existence for 177 years and that has 43% white, 15% black, and 10% white agents. they are Asian, their main challenge will be to restore security to the Big Apple.
Data provided by the NYPD shows that despite the reduction in shootings last month by 13.2%, which presented significant decreases in Brooklyn, southern Queens, the Bronx and northern Manhattan, mainly, the main categories of crimes continue to skyrocket.
Thefts to places such as real estate increased 22.7%, car thefts, 21.5% and major thefts 21.3%, at the same time that the seizure of weapons already exceeds 5,600 so far this year. 2022 and criminal arrests for felony complaints have grown by 27%.
The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, spoke with the new breed of police officers on the campus of John’s University in Queens, and after recounting an experience he had as an NYPD police officer in the 88th precinct, with an 11-year-old teenager, He asked that they not fail in their work, and understand the seriousness of their work.
“(The young man) spat on me and cursed me. About an hour later, I asked him if he wanted to use the bathroom. He shook his head and said yes. He spent another hour, I bought him something to drink and a chocolate bar, and handed it to him. About the third hour into the tour, I sat next to him and asked him: ‘Young man, what’s going on? Second time he has been arrested for a robbery. He broke down and started crying. His mother was high on crack. Her father was upstate serving time for murder. He was absent from school for almost thirty or forty days and nobody knew about it, ”commented the president.
“And here I was sitting inside a station. We abandon it. We betray him. That betrayal falls into his hands every time. A dysfunctional city that grabs and breaks kids, turns them into broken adults in a broken system that they expect you to fix. And when you don’t do it perfectly right all the time, they put you on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and try to demonize you, saying you’re not fit to do your job,” the municipal leader continued.
Adams warned the new officers that they will constantly be facing fire from all quarters, but he insisted that his Administration will have their back.
“I am here to tell you today that you are more than fit to do your job and that you will have the support to do it, and it is not easy. There is something noble about putting on a bulletproof vest and standing on street corners and facing danger only to be criticized. But don’t let loud noise displace the energy and spirit that people feel for you every day,” said the Mayor.
“Every day, New Yorkers love you. You see that blue uniform and that shield, and it becomes a symbol of our protection (…) you are the difference between protecting that symbol and allowing that symbol to erode. They are not the best that New York has to offer, they are the best that the United States has to offer,” said the mayor.
Mayor Adams concluded his welcome message to the new NYPD graduates by stating that times have changed and that they will have to do a job with the ship sailing in a sea that is not currently on the side of the police.
Different groups and organizations have not only been denouncing a lack of transparency in the Uniformed Police, but have also put a magnifying glass on the conduct of the police, which for many officers affects their work and the way in which their work is perceived.
Likewise, the reforms to the bail laws and the laxity that, according to Mayor Adams, has been occurring with criminals who are caught by the police and later released by the courts, makes the challenge of the new and current police officers more difficult than when he was uniformed.
“It was a different city. The legislators were on his side, the judges were on his side, the prosecutors were on his side, the media was on his side. Everyone was on his side. That is not the reality we are in. Now they’re under unprecedented scrutiny, but there’s a reason they’re called the best,” Adams said. “Despite all the criticism, we are going to show our faces. I join the Police Commissioner in saying, ‘This is our city. We are going to take back our city, one block at a time, one neighborhood at a time, and make sure everyone in this city lives safe and prospers.”
At the end of the ceremony, and amid urrahs in English and Spanish, the police officers of the new crop threw their white gloves in the air and declared themselves ready to start work.
Graduation of new police officers and formation of the NYPD in figures
- 637 was the number of new officers that will join the NYPD as of today
- 251 of the new police officers are Latino
- 561 police officers graduated last April
- 33,874 is the number of current uniformed before new members
- 30.8% of all NYPD police officers are Hispanic
- 43.2% of NYPD officers are white
- 15.6% of police officers are black
- 10.3% of NYPD members are Asian
- 0.1% of police officers are Native American Indians
- 22% of officers are women
- 78% of officers are men
- 16,813 NYPD employees are civilians
- 22.5% of them are Latino
Crime in New York in figures
- 15.2% increased crimes last September
- 11,057 crimes were reported last month citywide
- 9,596 was the number of crimes in September last year
- 22.7% increased robberies with home invasion
- 21.5% was the increase in major car thefts
- 21.3% increased major thefts
- 13.2% decreased shootings
- 118 actions with firearms were in September
- 23.5% murders were reduced in September
- 12.6% murders have been reduced so far this year
- 5,600 firearms and more have been seized so far in 2022
- 423 people were arrested in September for weapons offenses
- 7.4% was the increase in those arrests
- 4,258 arrests for felony complaints there were last month
- 27% increased felony arrests