Brooklyn is Part of Bold Experiment that Allows Neighborhoods to Police Themselves

 By: Serach Nissim

Brownsville, Brooklyn is part of an initiative where police step aside and let residents respond to and regulate themselves.  Some say the experiment has the potential to redefine law enforcement in New York City.

As reported by the NY Times, over the next three years, New York city will invest $2.1 million to help link multiple local organizations that participate in the Safety Alliance, so that they can work together to replace cops in the area.  The idea first started following demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.  Basically, the idea is that the neighborhood has an innate desire for order and it can police itself to obtain that common goal.

The Brownsville Safety Alliance is a neighborhood group of police officers and members of the Kings County District Attorney’s office who are trying to keep fewer people behind bars.  A group known as ‘Brownsville In Violence Out’, is part of a novel initiative where neighbors, not the police, respond to low-level street crime. The anti-gun violence group serves the 73rd police precinct of Brownsville Brooklyn as part of The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Crisis Management System.  Since April, a few times a year, workers from Brownsville In Violence Out stand guard on a two block radius for five days. The police channel all the area’s 911 calls to the civilian sentries.  The plainclothes regulators take care of matters, unless there is a real need for an arrest or a major incident.   The civilian group has tackled problems including persuading people to turn in illegal guns, preventing shoplifting and robberies, and managing domestic disputes.

The bold idea was started by police officer Terrell Anderson, who in 2020 took over as commander of the area’s 73rd Precinct. He grew up in Brownsville, and he set out to repair the police precinct’s relationship with the community.  The neighborhood was reeling from the Oct 2019 police shooting of Kwesi Ashun– a T-shirt vendor with paranoid schizophrenia, who was killed after he hit an officer in the head with a chair at a nail salon.  Residents were complained that officers were too  aggressive, grabbing men and arresting them for minor offenses. Per the NY Times, Inspector Anderson began the conversation, asking residents how the department could gain their trust.

Dushoun Almond, also known as Bigga, who now runs Brownsville In Violence Out, said that together they realized that sometimes people don’t need to see a badge.  To keep the peace it can be enough to have someone with credibility to set the pace and let them know they’ve stepped too far, Bigga said.

For the most part, residents are backing the idea.  “They say, ‘We feel more safe. We can walk without feeling anxiety,’” said Nyron Campbell, 37, an assistant program manager at Brownsville In Violence Out.  “While they know that we do need police, it’s possible that we can police ourselves,” Campbell added.   Eric Gonzalez, the Brooklyn district attorney, is also among the initiative’s cheer leaders.  Per the Times, he said the 73rd Precinct has been thriving under the Safety Alliance. In the first half of 2023, homicides dropped 50 percent, shootings were down 25 percent and the percentage of grand larcenies of automobiles also dropped in the neighborhood, despite increases in other neighborhoods, the DA said.