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In 2020, with crime at historic lows, and amid the social justice protests that erupted after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Mr. Adams’s predecessor, Bill de Blasio, disbanded the units.
But by the following year, gun violence was rising, and Mr. Adams, then a mayoral candidate, promised more aggressive policing. Critics called it a departure from his days as a captain in the Police Department, when he became a prominent voice against stop-and-frisk tactics.
As mayor, he said that he and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell would recruit at least 400 officers who would be vetted, trained and closely supervised to avoid discriminatory arrests and brutal tactics.
Officers would continue to patrol in unmarked vehicles, Mr. Adams said, but no longer in plainclothes, which made it hard to identify them and often caused problems. They would wear a modified uniform bearing a police insignia, in order to increase accountability.
Ms. Denerstein’s report described a lack of oversight by department officials, cited supervisors for failing to address improper stops, frisks and searches, and ordered the department to “take corrective action immediately.”
The report did praise some commands for conducting stops impeccably and called them models for lower-performing precincts in combining lawful and effective policing.
Ms. Denerstein said the compliant precincts showed that “lawful policing is effective.”
“In some commands, you have a high level of compliance, which makes it clear that lawful and effective policing are compatible,” Ms. Denerstein said. She said the report provided police officials a chance to improve matters.
“This is an opportunity for them to course-correct,” she said. “They can do better. Every New Yorker expects it and I hope they take this as an opportunity to do better.”
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