{"id":18489,"date":"2025-10-19T18:37:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T18:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=18489"},"modified":"2025-10-19T18:37:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T18:37:19","slug":"brooklyn-blocks-go-police-free-amid-trump-admins-anti-crime-push-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=18489","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Blocks Go \u201cPolice Free\u201d Amid Trump Admin\u2019s Anti-Crime Push"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\"\"
\u00a0Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

This article may contain commentary
\nwhich reflects the author’s opinion.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A notoriously violent stretch of Brooklyn is trying to fight crime \u2014 by asking uniformed police officers to stay away.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A two-block section of Brownsville in the NYPD\u2019s 73rd Precinct was converted last week into a \u201cpolice-free zone\u201d as part of a city-funded project known as the Brownsville Safety Alliance (BSA). The initiative, which began under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, was initially held twice a year but has expanded to four times annually, The New York Post\u00a0reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The program has drawn praise from anti-police activists and from socialist Assemblyman and mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani. \u201cHe believes in what we do,\u201d said Dushoun Almond, program director of Brownsville In Violence Out,<\/em>\u00a0the community group leading the effort.<\/p>\n

Almond said Mamdani even visited one of the zones when it operated last April.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/div>\n

Under the plan, police remain on standby but are told to allow the community group to handle lower-level incidents such as disputes or minor disturbances. The operation ran daily from noon to 6 p.m. between Sutter and Pitkin avenues from Oct. 7 through Oct. 11.<\/p>\n

Community members can still call police for serious crimes, including shootings or stabbings, but the group takes over for everything else. \u201cThey\u2019re not gone, but they give us our room to control the block,\u201d Almond said. \u201cThere\u2019s a BSA every three months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

An NYPD spokesperson said nothing has changed about police operations in the area. \u201cNothing has changed about our operations or deployment there,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n

But a police source expressed concern about the experiment, warning it \u201chas the potential to go sideways quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/div>\n

\u201cThis is the way that this new guy [Mamdani] wants us to go. [The brass] are trying to appeal to him. It\u2019s insane,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

The initiative includes roughly 20 members of Brownsville In Violence Out who patrol the streets, responding to 911 calls involving minor issues such as public drinking or arguments. A plainclothes NYPD \u201cBSA sergeant\u201d shadows the group in case situations escalate, while other officers are posted at the edges of the two-block stretch.<\/p>\n

A flyer that appeared in the area \u2014 later shared on social media \u2014 claimed uniformed officers were banned from entering the zone. \u201cNo on-duty [uniformed members of service] are to enter this area unless responding to an extreme police emergency (e.g. person shot, stabbed, etc.),\u201d it read. \u201cThis event is being monitored at the Police Commissioner level.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NYPD said the flyer was unauthorized and had been removed. \u201cThat was an unauthorized sign that was posted, and the signs have been removed,\u201d a department spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

While some residents praised the idea, others expressed doubt that community patrols could replace the police. A 57-year-old hardware store worker named Jose told\u00a0The Post<\/em>\u00a0the groups \u201cdo a better job because they talk \u2014 \u2018Yo, what\u2019s going on?\u2019 \u2018What\u2019s the problem?\u2019 \u2018Why are you doing this?\u2019 People listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

But others, like Cricket Wireless employee Jamixa Alvarez, said the area still needs police. \u201cIn 2025, being a cop isn\u2019t the easiest job,\u201d she said. \u201cBut right now we need our cops.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The most recent BSA ended quietly, except for one fight among teens wielding pipes and scooters.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, major crime in Brownsville remains on the rise. Robbery is up 23%, felony assault 26%, burglary 40%, and grand larceny 30% this year compared to 2024, according to NYPD data.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, this is one of the most dangerous parts of New York City,\u201d said John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor and former NYPD supervisor Christopher Hermann. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how designating this as a police-free zone will make residents feel \u2014 or actually be \u2014 safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa called the program \u201ca reckless experiment that invites chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunity groups can and should partner with the NYPD,\u201d Sliwa said. \u201cBut sidelining cops in a high-crime area is exactly the backwards approach Zohran Mamdani is cheering on \u2014 and I\u2019ll end it on Day One.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Getty Images This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion. A notoriously violent stretch of Brooklyn is trying to fight crime \u2014 by asking uniformed police officers to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18489"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18490,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18489\/revisions\/18490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}