Exclusive | NYPD agrees to steer clear of notoriously violent Brooklyn nabe - labeling the two-block stretch a 'police free zone'

A two-block stretch of Brownsville is operating as a city-funded police-free zone under the Brownsville Safety Alliance, now held four times annually. Community group members, about 20 people, walk the two blocks and handle low-level 911 calls during set hours, while a plainclothes BSA sergeant shadows them and uniformed officers remain stationed at the edges. The initiative runs noon to 6 p.m. on Mother Gaston Boulevard between Sutter and Pitkin for a specified period. Police still respond to stabbings or shootings. The program began in 2020, has political supporters, and draws concern from some NYPD personnel.

"A notoriously violent two-block stretch of Brooklyn is fighting crime - by keeping uniformed cops away, The Post has learned. NYPD officials agreed to turn a sliver of Brownsville in the NYPD's 73rd Precinct into a "police free zone" last week as part of an city-funded experiment called the Brownsville Safety Alliance that initially was only twice a year but now runs four times annually."

"Cops can still be called for serious crimes such as stabbings or shootings, but members of his community group replace them for low-level offenses from noon to 6 p.m. on Mother Gaston Boulevard between Sutter and Pitkin avenues from Oct. 7 through Oct. 11, people involved with the program said. Not everyone inside the NYPD was impressed. "It has the potential to go sideways quickly," a police source said."

Read at New York Post