TREATED WORSE THAN CRIMINALS: NYPD cops told not to 'congregate', avoid 'unnecessary conversation' in new memo
NYC, NEW YORK: The NYPD has released a memo instructing police officers to refrain from congregating on the streets while they are on the job. The order also restricts them from indulging in "unnecessary conversation" or chit-chat. This comes soon after a video had surfaced where NYC Mayor Eric Adams could be heard admonishing officers for the same.
The memo was reportedly released on August 23, 2022, according to New York Post. It marks a revision to the existing patrol guide for officers and supervisors, stating, "Do not congregate, or engage in unnecessary conversation, with other members of the service while on post, absent police necessity."
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Several weeks prior to the memo, a video shared on August 6, 2022, showed Mayor Adams telling cops to spread out while on patrol in Manhattan. This occurred during a Summer Streets bike ride when the mayor told a group of officers that they shouldn't just stand in a bunch in a quiet area where there is no cross traffic.
On a Summer Streets bike ride, @NYCMayor Adams crossed the median to tell NYPD he didn’t like how they were bunched up in a quiet area with no cross traffic. “How about scattering out, so we ensure safety and deploy personnel? We have not been deploying our personnel correctly.” pic.twitter.com/yfpJ0DumPN
— Jeff Coltin (@JCColtin) August 6, 2022
Adams can be heard asking them to scatter around "so we ensure safety and deploy personnel," adding, "We have not been deploying our personnel correctly."
Addressing the patrol supervisors, the revised patrol guide asks them to keep an eye on the members of their team and "ensure members of the service do not congregate, or engage in unnecessary conversation, with other members of the service while on post, absent police necessity.”
The memo released by the NYPD has been met with varied reactions. In fact, several people have remarked that very soon, there may not be enough cops left on the street to "congregate" in groups anyway. This is because of the news of so many police personnel quitting their jobs. More and more officers are handing in their papers, seemingly frustrated by the "revolving door justice and rules that hamstring them" in the city.
Add to this, the alarming rates of crime in the city that have made it unsafe for the police to go out patrolling by themselves. Earlier in May, Adams had ordered cops to spread across and begin patrolling alone in the subway system. This new order was quickly modified after one detective was assaulted while he was on his solo patrol duty on a Brooklyn subway platform. A couple of days ago, on August 23, 2022, an off-duty NYPD cop was found lying on the pavement in a critical condition. He had been mugged by three men in the Bronx.
According to a spokesperson for City Hall, Adams' memo has addressed a "tactical problem that could possibly pose a risk to both the officer and to members of the public. This is exactly why the mayor and the police commissioner have had several conversations about this issue, and they both agree that we can more effectively deploy our officers.”