NYPD anti-gun teams mostly make car stops, bust traffic offenders: recordsBy Craig McCarthy and Gabrielle Fonrouge
May 2, 2022
The NYPD’s new anti-gun teams are mainly conducting car stops to find illegal weapons as part of a recycled strategy that only turned up three firearms during the first few weeks, a Post analysis has found.
In addition to the paltry number of guns recovered during the car stops, most of the suspects pulled over by the anti-gun teams ended up being busted on low-level traffic offenses, arrest records show.
Since their launch, the new Neighborhood Safety Teams have made at least 52 car stops in neighborhoods plagued by gun violence, according to the latest data given to The Post by the NYPD. But the suspects were predominantly charged with minor infractions involving tinted windows, drug possession and bogus license plates, the records show.
The NYPD and mayor have repeatedly touted the program’s 135 arrests during its first three weeks and said 25 busts were for gun possession, including four involving minors.
They said the success of the team will depend on how the cases play out in court. But since the program started, nearly 20% of the 107 adult arrests have already been dismissed or pled down and sealed, a review of court records found.
Court records could not be located on 14 other arrests that a spokesman said Monday evening remained open.
Of the open cases The Post was able to obtain records for, 66% stemmed from vehicle stops as opposed to arrests on the street. In one of the three car stops that turned up an illegal gun, the firearm wasn’t even found in the vehicle but was later uncovered at a suspect’s home after he allegedly told police about it, law-enforcement sources said.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/05/02/nypd-anti-gun-unit-makes-most-arrests-at-car-stops-report/
