June 16 (UPI) -- New York Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea has announced that he will be disbanding the police department's elite anti-crime units

NYPD disbands plainclothes anti-crime units

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2020-06-16 08:59:08

June 16 (UPI) -- New York Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea has announced that he will be disbanding the police department's elite anti-crime units whose plainclothes officers target violent crime throughout the city.

Shea told reporters Monday during a press conference that effective immediately roughly 600 officers from those units will be transitioned to other departments in an effort to update the force for modern policing, describing the move as a substantial cultural change to foster trust with the community. Advertisement

"Make no mistake, this is a seismic shift in the culture of how the NYPD polices this great city," he said. "It will be felt immediately throughout the five district attorneys' offices. It will be felt immediately in the communities that we protect."

Eliminating the units closes one of the last chapters in the city's controversial "stop-and-frisk" era when police would stop and search residents in high-crime areas, he said. RELATED Watchdog: NYPD misconduct often involves black, Latino youth