Adams calls for more New York officers toward effort to remove guns

New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced a plan on Monday to combat gun violence in the city. 

The mayor’s plan includes placing more police officers in the streets with the purpose of removing guns, according to The New York Times.

“We will not surrender our city to the violent few,” Adams said in a speech just three days after officer Jason Rivera was killed in Manhattan, the Times reported.

“I want to be clear: This is not just a plan for the future — it is a plan for right now,” he added. “Gun violence is a public health crisis. There is no time to wait.”

Adams called for changes to bail laws and how the state deals with teenage defendants.

The mayor also said he would revamp police units disbanded in 2020. Specifically, he aims to bring back plainclothes police units dissolved as a result of criticism that the system was initiating use of force against Black and Latino individuals, the Times added.

Plainclothes officers in the unit would be identifiable to the public and would wear body cameras.

As a former police captain, Adams during his campaign touted himself as someone capable of making the city safer and encouraging reform, the newspaper noted. 

“If you’re walking around Manhattan with a gun, you’re going to be prosecuted, and we’re going to hold you accountable in what I would say is the traditional sense,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg also said on Monday, vowing to prosecute gun crimes aggressively.

Adams also discussed his plans for the plainclothes officers during an appearance on CNN on Sunday.

“I talked about this on the campaign trail. Our team has done the proper analysis. And now we’re going to deploy that,” he said of the units.

The Hill has reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.