(The Center Square) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is pushing back on a city council proposal to eliminate the New York Police Department’s gang database, saying the move would jeopardize public safety.
The legislation, filed by Bronx Democrat Althea Stevens, would abolish the NYPD’s Criminal Group Database and prohibit police officers from accessing the files, which would ultimately be destroyed. The city’s inspector general would be required to notify the roughly 16,000 individuals on the database “of their rights” and will oversee their destruction, according to the proposal.
Stevens and other backers of the proposal argue that the database is discriminatory because a majority of criminal suspects in the records are black or Latino. They also claim that it leads to increased surveillance of minority neighborhoods and fatal police encounters.
“This database isn’t about safety; it’s about control,” Stevens said in a recent statement in support of her proposal. “It fuels racial bias, criminalizes our youth, and fractures the trust between communities and law enforcement. It’s to eliminate this harmful practice, restore trust, and protect our young people from unjust surveillance.”
Another cosponsor of the bill, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, argues that a lack of transparency about how suspected gang members are added to the database “causes harm” to communities.
“Being labeled as a gang member by the police, wrongfully or otherwise, often results in increased police harassment, stops, and arrests,” he said in a statement. “This interrupts schooling and employment, and can even result in incarceration. It is also a waste of police resources that could otherwise be used to respond to or solve crimes.”
However, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is pushing back on the proposal to scrap the database, saying the move would jeopardize public safety.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Adams said he understands the complaints about the list being primarily black and Latino offenders but added that a majority of crime victims in the city are minorities.
“Ninety-six percent of the victims of shootings in the city are people of color,” Adams said in remarks. “Let’s keep them in mind as we look to identify those who are participating in this dangerous violence.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has also defended the database as a “crucial tool” to help law enforcement officials track down and arrest gang members who terrorize New York City’s communities.
“Let me be clear: being included in this database is not a crime, and it is in no way proof of criminal behavior, but it does provide the intelligence necessary for investigators to build a strong conspiracy case, and in this instance, it helped close out two dozen acts of violence,” Tisch said in a statement.
Councilman Robert Holden, a Republican, is among those who are criticizing the “misguided” proposal and argues that it will tie the hands of law-enforcement officials who are “doing everything they can to protect us.”
“With gang violence surging in NYC — primarily driven by the rise of migrant gangs — it’s absolute insanity that elected officials in this body prioritize coddling criminals over keeping New Yorkers safe,” he said during a hearing on the bill.
