Here’s what the NYPD’s new anti-gun teams will look like
The NYPD has unveiled uniforms for its revamped anti-crime unit — though the rollout of the key Adams administration initiative to quell soaring gun violence appears to have hit a snag, The Post has learned.
The look of Mayor Eric Adams’ new Neighborhood Safety Teams will stand in stark contrast to its plainclothes predecessor — the controversial anti-crime unit, according to photos of the approved uniforms in a police memo obtained by The Post.
Cops in the units will wear navy blue tactical pants, black boots or shoes with a polo shirt, quarter-zip sweatshirt or Neighborhood Safety vest that has NYPD clearly written on the back and front, along with patches bearing the officer’s name, shield, rank and command, according to the memo.
It’s optional for the cops to wear a baseball cap or knit hat with NYPD stitched in white, the memo adds.
Officers assigned to the old anti-crime unit, which was disbanded in 2020, wore street clothes and were only identifiable as police by the badge hanging around their necks or on their belts.
Police sources have said those plainclothes units were necessary to get the drop on people with guns because they blended in with the public. Police reform advocates, however, say those street clothes — as well as the unit’s aggressive tactics — often escalated situations because gunmen were confused as to whether they were cops or rivals.
It’s unclear when the new team will be hitting the streets.
The memo detailing the new uniforms — issued by Chief of Department Ken Corey on Feb. 17 and signed off on by the Police Commissioner’s Office last week — doesn’t include a firm timeline, even as gun violence continues to surge in the city.
An earlier version of the NYPD’s 90-day crime plan says seven of the 30 commands set to add the teams will be “able to start as early as February 22” after their training began Feb. 8. It also listed the commands — Precincts 40, 42, 44, 73 and 75, plus PSA 2 and PSA 7.
But the details on the commands and start date were scrubbed from a later version of the crime plan obtained by The Post in mid-February.
Police sources said last week the team would hit streets “any minute” after cops completed their seven-day training.
It’s unclear why the rollout has been postponed.
A spokesman for the NYPD did not answer questions about the delay or say when the units would be up and running.
“There is no snag in the NYPD’s ongoing work to eradicate gun violence in New York, anchored in part by forming and training new Neighborhood Safety teams,” said Al Baker, adding, “even the best-written plans are malleable and evolve with time, as these certainly have.”
Adams has long touted the return of a revamped anti-crime unit that was disbanded by Police Commissioner Dermot Shea nearly two years ago after accounting for a disproportionate number of police shootings and civilian complaints.
Hizzoner has said the units will be a hybrid version of the undercover division with officers wearing clearly marked police uniforms equipped with body-worn cameras in unmarked cars.
