Why New York City Should Protect the NYPD Gang Database from Anti-Police Sentiments
New York City hasn’t yet reached a level of danger that justifies the efforts of the two dozen City Council progressives who are still advocating for the abolition of the NYPD’s gang database.
Officially named the “Criminal Group Database,” it serves as a purely investigative resource, enabling police to respond more quickly and intelligently after incidents, such as shootings suspected to be gang-related — acting promptly enough to avert cycles of violent retaliation.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and his colleagues argue that the database constitutes racial profiling because a significant majority of those within it are Black or Latino — as if the city is overrun with white or Asian gangs currently. (Perhaps Jumaane recalls West Side Story’s Jets and Sharks?)
Furthermore, the progressives fail to acknowledge gang victims, as Mayor Eric Adams highlights: “One statistic they overlook — 96% of the victims of shootings in the city are people of color. Let’s keep them in mind.”
During Monday’s hearing, this comment sparked a tense exchange between a visibly shaken Williams and Chief Michael LiPetri, who oversees the NYPD’s crime-control strategies.
To set the record straight: Names are entered into the database following serious crimes in local neighborhoods, typically those with minority populations. Strict protocols necessitate substantial evidence of gang involvement along with supervisory approval before any individual’s name is added.
Over a quarter of individuals in the database are convicted felons; 45% have been arrested for firearms offenses; one-third have criminal records featuring 20 or more arrests; and another third are either implicated in shootings or are suspects themselves. Merely 1% lack any recorded arrests.
It’s important to note that Williams & Co. do not merely seek to eliminate the database; they also demand that each person listed be notified and informed of how to “submit requests for records contained” in it — potentially allowing gangs to identify NYPD informants.
You thought we were exaggerating by calling this “pro-crime”?
In a bizarre twist, one council member lamented that the NYPD’s Explorers program for local youth attracts the “cream of the crop” rather than potential gang members “hanging out on the block.”
This discussion brings to mind Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, the 15-year-old Explorer who was brutally murdered by members of the Trinitarios gang in The Bronx six years ago; the gang database likely played a vital role in solving that case, resulting in the conviction of over 13 individuals.
These progressive “reforms” have already benefited local criminal elements too much, but the progressives persist in seeking new means to assist the criminals.
Even if the more rational voices manage to halt this particular reckless initiative, public safety continues to be compromised until voters start evaluating progressives for their “political execution” at the earliest chance in the electoral cycle.
