A specialized police unit focusing on quality-of-life issues that was formed under Mayor Eric Adams has been operating for more than two years without written policies, procedures and operational guides, and without any required training for its members, according to a report released Tuesday by the Inspector General for the NYPD.
The NYPD formed the unit, known as the Community Response Team, with just 18 members in the summer of 2022, with leaders taking to social media to declare the team would tackle problems flagged by New Yorkers, from illegal motor bikes to black market street vendors.
By early 2023, the unit had expanded citywide and grew to roughly 165 members, gaining a reputation along the way even among some in law enforcement for its aggressive tactics — particularly when it comes to vehicle pursuits.
Despite the unit’s stated focus on community complaints, the NYPD was unable to provide the inspector general’s office with data supporting its claim that the unit tracks and responds to calls to the city’s 311 system.
“The lack of transparency regarding NYPD’s Community Response Team risks non-compliance with the law, ethical breaches, and negative policing outcomes,” said OIG-NYPD Inspector General Jeanene Barrett. “The recommendations in this report encourage the creation of public policies and procedures that will enhance knowledge of and confidence in CRT’s mission, as well as facilitate future oversight.”
The IG’s office noted that the lack of formal policies, training requirements or selection criteria for joining the unit makes the team different from other specialized units, such as the Anti-Crime squads that Adams reconstituted in early 2022. They had been disbanded two years earlier by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio in response to community concerns about their hard-edged policing.
While the CRT isn’t mentioned on the NYPD’s website, the unit has been given considerable attention on social media by its founders — Chief of Patrol John Chell and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry.
In late 2022 the duo touted the work of the units in cracking down on vehicles with fake “ghost” plates, street racing, and illegal all terrain vehicles and scooters — activity that was documented in two short films produced by the NYPD that hyped the unit’s fast-paced and often dangerous work.
When THE CITY reported on a sixfold increase in NYPD vehicle pursuits during the first six months of 2023, stemming in part from the work of the CRT, Chell staunchly defended the NYPD’s more aggressive tactics — despite the risks to other drivers, bystanders and police officers.
“With the enforcement of more moving summonses and car stops, and people thinking they can take off on us?” the report quotes him as saying in July 2023. “Those days are over.”
More recently, police officials have been publicizing other efforts by the CRT, including removing illegal street vendors from Manhattan sidewalks and targeting alleged brothels along Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, and even getting guns off the street — which had been the primary mission of the Anti-Crime teams.
The NYPD press office, speaking through an unnamed spokesperson, said, “We thank the DOI for its review of the policies and procedures relating to the Community Response Team. We look forward to reviewing the report and carefully considering its recommendations.”
John Macari, a retired lieutenant who has been critical of the NYPD’s more aggressive vehicle pursuit practices, said the department should release data regarding the CRT’s work — including the number of complaints filed against its members, and the number of deaths and injuries that result from vehicle pursuits.
“What we’re seeing with the CRT is they’re not being held accountable,” said Macari, who hosts the podcast New York’s Finest: Retired and Unfiltered. “They’re shrouded in mystery.”
In just the past six weeks, two cyclists were killed in separate incidents during the course of police vehicle pursuits, according to news reports.
THE CITY has sent 10 emails since July 2023 to the NYPD’s press office, six of which cc’d Mayor Adams, requesting data on deaths stemming from vehicle pursuits since 2018.
There was no response to the first nine emails. On Monday, in response to the 10th, the department’s press shop said a Freedom of Information Request needed to be submitted in order to obtain the data.
The Inspector General made several recommendations, focused on improving accountability and transparency.
The IG report noted that its work delving into the CRT will continue, particularly since the NYPD is considering expanding the unit’s efforts to every precinct.
An investigation planned for release next year will look at the disciplinary history of officers — both before and after they joined CRT — and the measurable impact of the unit’s enforcement of quality of life issues.
