NYC needs cops, not violence interrupters

[Kamaji]

NYC needs cops, not violence interrupters

By NY Post Editorial Board
August 2, 2023

For another sign of the lunacy of lefty policies, witness the absurd-as-it-is-tragic arrest this week of Michael Rodriguez — who headed up a Bronx-based anti-violence program that employs so-called “violence interrupters” — as part of a massive upstate drug and gun bust.

Rodriguez stands accused of supplying drugs to dealers in Middletown and Port Jervis; a raid on his home netted more than $165,000 in cash and two illegal guns.

How on Earth was this guy ever put in charge of keeping NYC streets safe?

Yet he was: BRAG (Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence) is one of the city’s partner organizations in its 2022 Blueprint to End Gun Violence.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with the idea of community groups — in many cases staffed by older-and-wiser ex-cons — dedicated to outreach, squashing beefs and counseling kids away from crime.

But interrupters can’t replace actual policing, as the left keeps pretending.

As witness Gotham’s crime numbers, with total felonies up 39% since 2021.

Murders are 40% above 2019 levels.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/08/02/nyc-needs-cops-not-violence-interrupters/