To Tackle Rise in Shootings, NYC Goes After Gangs

As shootings have risen from historic lows in 2019 to their highest level in a decade, leading New York City officials have joined the NYPD in vowing to dismantle gangs as the surest strategy for reducing gun violence even though such tactics have long faced criticism, reports the New York Times.  However, critics say that targeting gangs relies on police intelligence gathering that is often unreliable and classifies far too many young men of color as gang members, sowing mistrust in communities and even hardening gang ties. Legal experts say that approach is better suited to taking down drug cartels and the Mafia than New York’s mostly young, Black and Latino street crews. Prosecutors and the police say they have been efficient in targeting the people directly connected to shootings as they crack down on gangs.

Brooklyn district attorney Eric Gonzalez said the tactic can be effective when authorities focus on the individuals who perpetrate violence. The police say the majority of the more than 2,500 shootings recorded since the beginning of last year can be linked to gangs. A much smaller number of shootings — only a quarter to a third — have been deemed gang motivated, a more clear-cut assessment where authorities determined the violence was explicitly part of the group’s conflicts. The gap in the data, along with questions about the database that police use to label individuals as gang members, fuel skepticism that gangs’ roles in violence are exaggerated. Additional Reading: NYC Crime Wave Shows Signs of Breaking.