Crime-ridden Brownsville, Brooklyn pushes for 'police-free zone'

A Brooklyn neighborhood known for its violence has become the site of a “police-free zone” initiative, according to the New York Post.

The program was launched in part of Brownsville within the NYPD’s 73rd Precinct and is part of the city-funded Brownsville Safety Alliance. This city-funded experiment originally operated twice a year but has expanded to four times annually.

From October 7 to October 11, community members replaced police officers for low-level incidents between noon and 6 pm along Mother Gaston Boulevard between Sutter and Pitkin avenues. Residents were still allowed to call police for serious crimes such as shootings or stabbings.

“Nothing has changed about our operations or deployment there,” an NYPD spokesperson said, per the Post. However, one police source added that the initiative “has the potential to go sideways quickly.”

The program has also drawn support from New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Dushoun Almond, program director of Brownsville in Violence Out, said that Mamdani “believes in what we do," noting that the socialist candidate visited the zone when it was active in April.

“This is the way that this new guy [Mamdani] wants us to go. [The brass] are trying to appeal to him. It’s insane,” the police source added.

The Brownsville Safety Alliance, created in 2020, includes about 20 community members who patrol the area to respond to low-level issues. A flyer circulated online stated, “No on duty [uniformed members of service] are to enter this area unless responding to an extreme police emergency (e.g. person shot, stabbed, etc).”

However, NYPD officials said that the flyer was unauthorized and was taken down.

“That was an unauthorized sign that was posted, and the signs have been removed,” an NYPD spokesperson said. “Nothing has changed about our operations or deployment there."