The NYPD’s largest union wants residents to know just how dangerous New York can be — and they’re setting up an online “Safety Tracker” to show the seedier side of the so-called “Safest Big City in America.”
The new Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association “Safety Tracker” offers a chronological list of major crimes by precinct. It uses NYPD stats to highlight troubling spikes. And the site also culls and compiles links to stories about crime and its trends.
For instance, Safety Tracker wants you to know that on July 22 in Brooklyn’s 79th Precinct, rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was beaten, kidnapped and robbed.
Readers get a handy link to the Post’s story detailing how the rapper has added black and blue to the palette of colors adorning his heavily-tattooed head.
But in reading about the rapper’s assault, you’ll also learn that in the same 79th Precinct, robberies and felony assaults are up well over 10 percent from the previous year.
“Regular New Yorkers are our city’s real public safety experts,” PBA President Patrick J. Lynch said in launching Safety Tracker.
“They see what’s happening on their own block. They read the paper and watch the news. They know the ‘Safest Big City in America’ doesn’t feel that way on every street corner. Their policing agenda should be the only one that matters,” he said.
“But too often, Mayor de Blasio and the City Council ignore the realities of individual communities and pursue a different agenda about how police officers should do their job.
“The PBA’s Public Safety Tracker will provide our neighbors with the information they need to speak up and demand real safety policies from City leaders, not just press conferences with cherry-picked statistics.”
“With innovations like CompStat, NYPD crime statistics remain the gold standard, and these numbers demonstrate that New York City remains the safest big city in America,” countered Deputy Chief of Police Patrick Conry.
“Hopefully this website will highlight the brave members of the NYPD who patrol our neighborhoods, and encourage residents to attend Build-the-Block meetings to forge stronger partnerships.”