NYCLU on New NYPD “Quality of Life” Unit  

NEW YORK CITY – In response to the announcement by the Adams administration of a newly formed NYPD unit tasked with cracking down on low-level offenses, the New York Civil Liberties Union released the following statement attributable to Assistant Policy Director Michael Sisitzky:

“The NYPD’s latest crackdown on so-called ‘quality of life’ offenses is the latest example of this administration’s unwillingness to think beyond the Giuliani playbook. Quality of life enforcement is a euphemism for broken windows policing, which we know will mean more police harassment and profiling of poor people and people of color.

“This will result in even more time and resources being spent processing low-level arrests and summonses when those resources could have been better spent investing in the types of services that actually make New Yorkers’ lives better.

“For too long, our city officials have chosen to starve communities of the resources needed to thrive by choosing instead to respond with handcuffs. Mayor Adams has unabashedly followed this misguided path.”

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