NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea finally shows up to a de Blasio presser
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea on Wednesday finally made an appearance at a mayoral press conference — the first time since March 12 — as Mayor Bill de Blasio has struggled to offer new solutions to the Big Apple’s surge in shootings and other violent crimes.
Shea was there to speak about a crackdown on fake license plates, which NYPD brass linked to other more serious crimes. It is the first time he’s been available to field questions on crime from City Hall reporters in months.
Since his March briefing appearance, the city has experienced a surge in shootings — 634 instances of gunplay resulting in 721 victims have been reported as of Monday, according to NYPD statistics. That’s a 64 percent increase compared to the same period in 2020.
Among the fatal victims was a 10-year-old boy who on June 6 was killed in Queens in a long-simmering dispute over a shared driveway. In May, three innocent bystanders — including a 4-year-old — were hit by gunfire in Times Square. And in April, a 12-year-old child was hit in the chest by a bullet in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Two diners at the famous Peter Luger steakhouse in Brooklyn were wounded by a gunman in April, as well.
Asked Wednesday by The Post what the city would deem a success when it came to shooting statistics, de Blasio said it’d be a “mistake” to provide such a figure.
“We will turn it around. I can’t tell you an exact day, and I think it’s a mistake to say, ‘Here is our exact metrical pattern,’” de Blasio told reporters.
“I’m very confident about where we’re going, but I think it’s still going to take time to know exactly how it’s going to play out.”
Responding to the same question, Shea replied, “The simple answer is zero.”
“Some may look at that and say that’s unrealistic, but I assure you that in this agency – from every cop on the street to civilian members to myself and everyone in between – day and night, all through the day, thinks about how to keep people safe.”
Shea insisted that the NYPD is dead set on getting the city back to the record low crime and shootings seen in the years that preceded the recent uptick in bloodshed.
“We know we’re in a tough time. It was not long ago that we had record lows in violence and it is the goal — and I know I’m speaking for [Chief] Rodney [Harrison] and myself and I know the mayor shares this view as well — how do we not only get back to that as quickly as possible, but surpass it?” Shea said.
“That is the focus of everyone in this agency.”
The top cop’s previous absence came as the city has suffered through an alarming increase in gunplay. The police commissioner took off-topic questions from police reporters on March 31, when police spoke about a harrowing broad daylight beating of an Asian woman, but has been notably absent from the mayor’s crime-heavy press briefings.
On June 8, the police commissioner was a no-show during a press conference focused on combating the city’s surge in gun violence. Shea last week was shielded by NYPD staff as he ducked out the back door of an awards banquet, evading reporters at the event to ask him about the increase in bloodshed in the five boroughs.
