NEW YORK — Mayor Adams announced Monday that he’s bringing back a controversial contingent of plainclothes NYPD cops as part of a wide-ranging plan to crack down on gun violence in the wake of a rash of deadly shootings across the city.
The plainclothes units — which were disbanded by former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration in 2020 amid a national reckoning over police brutality — will be deployed to 30 precincts where 80% of the city’s violent crimes are reported, Adams said at City Hall.
About 400 cops are expected to join the reinstated plainclothes units, dubbed “Neighborhood Safety Teams,” and will hit the streets in the next three weeks with a mission to curb gun violence, according to Adams.
