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Impact of fentanyl crisis on community quality of life and law enforcement challenges
1:40:39
ยท
4 min
Council Member Ayala addresses the fentanyl crisis and its impact on quality of life issues in her district, expressing concern about the approach to drug enforcement and the need for more effective strategies to combat drug dealing. Commissioner Tisch acknowledges the ongoing work on long-term cases and the effectiveness of targeted enforcement in specific zones.
- Ayala highlights the connection between fentanyl sales, petty thefts, and quality of life complaints
- Concern expressed about the focus on arresting drug users rather than dealers
- Discussion of the challenges in balancing long-term investigations with immediate community needs
- Tisch emphasizes the ongoing work on long-term cases and the success of targeted enforcement in problem areas
- The exchange underscores the complexity of addressing drug-related issues and their impact on community safety
Diana Ayala
1:40:39
I don't know why I'm on the clock, but okay.
1:40:42
I had one final question regarding the and I just wanna I I wanna premise this.
1:40:49
So that we've we have and we've seen since specifically after the COVID pandemic, increase in quality of life calls in you know in my neighborhood.
1:41:01
A lot of them are attributed to a higher rate of fentanyl sales that are happening within our community that are also then trickling into a lot of the petty thefts that you're seeing in you know the local CVS and Target right because people are looking for money to be able to get high and so they're stealing things and selling them and therefore and but what I haven't seen is an effort to really combat this problem.
1:41:31
We had a similar issue with the synthetic marijuana increase several years ago, and then they seemed like there was a concerted effort to, you know, look for, you know, the dealers, the bigger fish, right?
1:41:47
I don't want to see the quality of life team arresting drug users because I think that they are the symptom of a larger problem.
1:41:56
I would love to see more emphasis on the actual drug dealing that's happening in our communities that's contributing to all of these quality of life issues.
1:42:06
Know, what does that conversation look like?
1:42:08
Because when I call, I'm always told, well narcotics is dealing with that and that can take years for them to build a case.
1:42:16
And oftentimes I don't believe that.
1:42:17
I don't believe the narcotics is there and that they aren't doing anything because, you know, when we get in there and we're aggressive about it, you see an immediate reduction in the complaints that the, you know, community is is calling about.
1:42:29
But I can't keep an officer on a corner, you know, in perpetuity.
1:42:33
Like, that's just not sustainable.
1:42:35
So I, you know, I I would really love to hear more about what efforts are being made to address this fentanyl crisis that's impacting the the entire city.
Jessica Tisch
1:42:45
So I understand your feedback and I agree with a lot of the feedback that you shared.
1:42:52
I also want you to know that the NYPD largely through the detective bureau works on a huge number of long term cases that are going after exactly what you described.
1:43:09
So that work very much is ongoing.
1:43:13
And I understand that it can be frustrating that those cases do take time.
1:43:19
But when we take down those cases it makes a big impact in the precincts where those people are operating for a long time to come.
1:43:31
But that work has by no means subsided.
Diana Ayala
1:43:37
Okay, get that there is a process right for you know the bigger fish.
1:43:43
But in the interim what happens is then you have two or three years with a quality of life in a specific you know location like we had on A Hundred And 20 Fifth Street, like I see on A Hundred And Sixteenth Street.
1:43:54
I sent, you know I park my car there you know every now and then and I watch and I know who the drug dealers are.
1:44:01
You know it's pretty evident they're selling in the middle of the day.
1:44:04
It's I mean, anybody can see that, but yet I have to take that extra step to kind of force, you know, police presence in in those communities so that my constituents feel safe, you know, riding in and out of the subways.
Jessica Tisch
1:44:21
Yes.
1:44:22
And as I mentioned in my testimony, focusing on specific zones where we're seeing pockets of crime or real problems, 120 Fifth Street among them, when we add additional officers to those zones, we've seen extraordinary crime reductions.
1:44:44
And so I by no means, in my previous answer, want to minimize the work that those officers have done in those zones.
Diana Ayala
1:44:54
Yeah, they've been fantastic.
1:44:56
But again And again, underscores
Jessica Tisch
1:44:58
why we need to continue to hire cops in New York City.
Diana Ayala
1:45:02
Absolutely.