De Blasio orders Bronx drug sweep while touting low arrest record
A planned move by Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD to raid Bronx parks for drug users appears at odds with the mayor’s own rhetoric on making New York the “fairest big city” in the nation.
The mayor, with great fanfare, recently rolled out an $8 million initiative to reduce the number of overdose deaths in the south Bronx. The program was touted as providing additional services and treatment to residents after a similar model used on Staten Island proved successful in combating the opioid crisis.
And on Thursday, de Blasio insisted New York City was writing a new playbook on combating crime that relied on compassion — not incarceration.
“For years, conventional wisdom said you could only arrest your way to a safer city. Conventional wisdom was wrong,” de Blasio said. “For years, conventional wisdom said you could only imprison your way to a safer city. Wrong again.”
Yet advocates and city leaders say the NYPD is planning to do just that. Starting on Monday, police will flood St. Mary’s Park and other parts of the south Bronx for “enhanced enforcement.” More officers will be on the ground and the NYPD will have discretion over who they arrest, advocates said.
“He wants to get the points for talking about public health and talking about compassion and talking about why this is a health crisis,” said Kassandra Frederique, New York State director at the Drug Policy Alliance. “He is relying on tools that are not effective and are immoral.”
Local leaders and advocates also say open air drug use in the Bronx is a problem exacerbated by de Blasio himself.
In 2015, the mayor sent cops in to clean up an abandoned rail yard, known as the Hole — a place where users regularly injected drugs. The effort pushed people from the shadows, onto the streets and into the parks, where they visibly use drugs.
“[The city] cleaned out the area — they came in with sanitation to really get rid of the syringes — but they didn’t address the issue,” said City Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr. (D-Bronx). “The administration could have done better.”
The south Bronx became “Ground Zero” for drug use, Salamanca said.
The borough faces high overdose rates — 363 people died in 2017, a 12 percent increase from 2016 — and “in your face” drug use and dealing has largely been met with increased policing.
“Your first response is to send cops,” said Jeremy Saunders, co-executive director of Vocal-NY. “What better illustration to show the Bronx what you think about it.”
The number of drug arrests in the Bronx has steadily declined over the past decade, according to the latest statistics from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. The NYPD made 3,841 drug arrests in the Bronx in 2017, down from 5,940 drug arrests in 2013 — the year de Blasio won the mayor’s race. He pointed to the decline in crime during Thursday’s State of the City address.
After some reluctance, de Blasio has recently come around to support supervised injection facilities, which allow drug users to inject under medical supervision. One of the proposed locations will be situated in the south Bronx. He maintains, however, that police can’t simply ignore people using drugs illegally in public parks.
“The parks are not an OK place for people to use drugs,” de Blasio said at an unrelated press conference on Dec. 28. “Honestly, there’s no place that’s OK and our job is to do everything in our power to get people to treatment and help people address their addiction problem.”
City Hall said Friday it was pursuing a variety of tactics to prevent overdose deaths.
“We are committed to doing everything in our power to help New Yorkers who suffer from substance abuse disorders get the treatment they need,” said mayoral spokesperson Marcy Miranda. “We have a lot of work to do in the Bronx to help address the opioid epidemic, and we must use every tool at our disposal to prevent deaths. We are working closely with community advocates to find ways to address their concerns while keeping the safety of all New Yorkers in mind.”
Patrice O’Shaughnessy, a spokesperson for Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, said police officers are arresting dealers more than those simply using drugs in the park, though she noted the crime people are charged with is typically possession.
Advocates argue that by pursuing a criminalization approach, the city is setting up users to fail.
“You cannot have a situation where you dedicate $8 million and then talk about a militarized force,” Frederique said. “De Blasio needs to make a decision on whether he supports the health and dignity of people who use drugs or whether he does not.”