It’s time for cops to get out from behind desks and hit the streets.
This is the fifth year the NYPD is launching what it calls “Summer All Out.”
WHAT IS IT?
"[It] takes cops currently working in non-enforcement or administrative assignments and moves them to commands that would benefit from an influx of additional officers," said Chief of Department Terence Monahan about the initiative.
287 officers will take part in the program, which is 70 more than last year.
And the initiative will also be expanded by three weeks—beginning now instead of in June, and ending shortly after Labor Day.
They will be deployed in 11 precincts and commands with relatively high levels of crime.
"Last summer, all out commands experienced 11 fewer shootings compared to the same period in 2017,” Monahan said. “That's a reduction of 16%. They also posted eight fewer murders for the same period compared to 2017. That's a 36% reduction. These reductions are more than just statistics, they are lives saved."
For the first time, "Summer All Out" will place some of those cops in the transit system.
Officers who have not been on patrol for a while are receiving two days of refresher training.
With more officers on the street for the summer months, NY1 asked the Monahan, “Does that mean those officers are going to be told to hand out more tickets or stop more people?”
The chief of department said that's not the goal.
NYPD stats show so far this year 12 fewer murders than last year at the same time and a 7% decrease in all major crimes.
Cheif of Department Monahan said "Summer All Out" was designed to help keep violence and crime down when the weather is hot and the streets are, too.
"We are doing it with less arrests, less summonses, less stops. It is being done with precision," Monahan said.
For those who ask, “Why not keep the extra cops on the streets year-round?” the answer NY1 received was that their administrative jobs are important to keeping the NYPD functioning. But for the summer, it's more important to have them on patrol.