QUESTION
What actions is the administration taking to enhance safety at city shelter sites?
1:41:00
·
7 min
The administration acknowledges the need for improved security at city shelters, emphasizing ongoing efforts and challenges.
- The administration is evaluating the security at shelters, considering the deployment of metal detectors and cameras.
- There's an expressed urgency to make Randalls shelter safe, highlighting the difficulty of managing 3,000 people at any site.
- The city has tripled its shelter system in two years due to a national crisis, needing more federal support.
- Finding locations for smaller, community-based shelters is challenging, with efforts to partner with communities for better solutions.
- The administration is in regular contact with people in care, emphasizing security improvement efforts while facing the challenge of significant operational demands.
Diana I. Ayala
1:41:00
And then we had the the issue at Lincoln Center on the 28th What is the administration doing to keep shelter residents and staff safe at all city shelter sites?
1:41:11
Specifically, because I've continuously heard the situation, say that they are they're looking into maybe possibly putting in metal detectors and cameras and, you know, looking at their security for the current security structure.
1:41:30
But there has been no change.
1:41:33
That has resulted from, you know, those statements.
1:41:36
So I I'm curious to see, you know, to hear what has change and what is the plan we'll move forward.
Molly Schaeffer
1:41:43
So shelter management is an iterative process.
1:41:47
We're constantly looking at doing our operations better.
1:41:50
As mentioned, we are going through a process or we have gone through a process to look at all the security at our sites and see where tools like metal sectors tools like cameras are best deployed.
Diana I. Ayala
1:42:04
The the reason that I'm asking the question is because after the the friend who was the young man that was murdered there.
1:42:11
By the way, he that happened January 7th, I believe 6th, 7th, he's his his body is getting home today.
1:42:18
You know, it took us a lot of effort to make sure that we got him home to his mom because the city didn't even call or offer words of condolences or made an effort to help ensure that that that the family got the body, that it was, you know, transported back to his native country.
1:42:39
But the after after the front was stabbed and and killed there, there was no urgency.
1:42:48
There are still today hasn't been any level of urgency to make any changes to the security structure there.
1:42:55
And in fact, the the one of the news outlets was out there a few weeks after the second step I'm slashing and saw that they were migrants that were selling food.
1:43:08
Right?
1:43:09
And in the the preparing of the food, they had access to knives that switched, you know, I'm not I'm not assuming that they handles life for, you know, with that intentions, but the fact that there were knives in the facility that were coming in and out after something so tragic had already occurred and then was, you know, a repeated 2 weeks after, and still no change has been made, gives me the impression that there is no intention of making any additional changes to the security structure there.
1:43:43
And that worries me.
1:43:45
1, because I find that of disregard to this young man's life.
1:43:49
But to the fact that there are people there that may be feeling really unsafe wave, you know, is troublesome.
1:43:56
And I haven't again, I haven't seen any effort to change the security structure when you put 3000 people in once in any space.
1:44:06
It doesn't matter whether they're migrants, whether they're children, whether they're whoever they are, there's gonna be conflict.
1:44:14
We need we need to be prepared for that before we put the 3 thousand people there.
1:44:19
Fifty guards, and I heard it through good authority that that's what the number is.
1:44:25
It's not sufficient.
1:44:26
And the fact that there has been an effort to ensure that no weapons are coming in since then?
1:44:32
I need an explanation for that.
Molly Schaeffer
1:44:34
Thank you for your concern.
1:44:35
I'm also happy to sit down with you to specifically go over Randalls, but I will say there is absolutely urgency on making sure that Randalls is as safe as possible.
1:44:45
You mentioned 3 thousand people in any site is is not something we've wanted to do ever.
1:44:52
I want to take a step back and remind folks that we are a municipal government dealing with a national crisis us.
1:45:00
While you may disagree with a lot of or some of our policies, you can't say we haven't led with care and compassion I just want to kind of also mention that because we have tripled our shelter system in the span of 2 years.
1:45:16
In 2 years, we've tripled our shelter system, and we've provided TPS, work authorization, asylum, We've helped connect people to apartments.
1:45:28
We've helped connect people to jobs.
1:45:31
But we need more help so that we don't have to create sites that are 3000 people big.
1:45:37
And we need more help from the federal government.
1:45:39
We need them to help coordinate where people are going.
1:45:41
We need them to give us more resources.
1:45:44
We continue to iterate.
1:45:45
We continue to have urgency around the safety of people in our care, but we can't do this alone.
Molly Wasow Park
1:45:52
If I could add in here, and I'm preaching to the choir a little bit because council members are here represent some really terrific partners, but finding locations for shelters has been tremendously challenging.
1:46:05
I think there's large scale agreement that bigger sites are are hard to operate, but finding sites for for smaller shelters is is also something that is challenging.
1:46:17
And in community after community, this is true.
1:46:20
Before the asylum seeker crisis, but and continues to be true, DHS gets pushed back.
1:46:28
We want to be providing the highest quality sites that we possibly can.
1:46:32
We wanna be working with good providers.
1:46:34
We wanna be work we wanna have quality real estate.
1:46:39
We send a letter as I think you probably all know every year to community council members, community boards, other elected officials, right, looking for sites wanna really make sure that we are continuing that partnership with this body, with community boards to make sure that we are having the most community based citing practice possible and that we are finding options for smaller community based shelters.
1:47:06
Again, I do think I'm preaching to the choir here, but I think that it's something that we would really like to partner even more with the count flon.
Molly Schaeffer
1:47:13
And I just one other point is that I was just at Randalls yesterday, I believe, with the mayor talking to the asylum seekers because you mentioned, we talk regularly with people in our care.
1:47:24
We regularly go on-site visits because we want to ensure that we know how things are acting people, but talking to the staff members there, talking to the asylum seekers there to really emphasize the security and try to figure out ways we can do things better on that site.
Diana I. Ayala
1:47:41
But still, no changes happen in terms of if I if I was operating that facility and somebody died under my watch.
1:47:52
My first instinct would be to go in there and figure out what I did wrong, what could have been done better, understanding.
1:47:59
I don't wanna I again, I've been very I've tried to be very fair because I I do understand that how difficult, you know, of an endeavor this has been.
1:48:09
But once this young man was murdered, Somebody should have gone back and said, okay.
1:48:16
You know what?
1:48:17
Maybe this maybe this existing structure is gonna put you know, it's putting other people at risk.
1:48:21
Maybe people are bringing it nice because they feel unsafe.
1:48:24
At city shelters, routinely, we have metal detectors, and many of them, my correct Molly?
Molly Wasow Park
1:48:31
Yes.
Diana I. Ayala
1:48:32
To ensure that people are not bringing in weapons.
1:48:37
And we still haven't done that at the HERX.
1:48:40
And So I just wanna understand.