When I heard that NYC mayor Bill de Blasio had disbanded the anti-crime branch of the NYPD, I instinctively knew that the city was in for a new wave of violent crime.

In 1972, when the unit was first started, my buddy Ronnie Meehan and I were among the first radio motor patrol (RMP) teams to apply for a position in the plainclothes investigation unit.  Ronnie and I had been a team in the 105th Precinct in Queens for a couple of years and had a well earned reputation as the "first on the scene" type of team when a crime in progress came over the radio.  Our record of arrests and convictions made us an obvious choice for the so-called "elite" group of crime-fighters.

There were six of us on the night tour (4 P.M. to midnight) and six on the day tour (8 A.M. to 4 P.M.).  However, we knew from the get-go that this wasn't a job in which you punched a timeclock.  More often than not, we were still processing prisoners at our office or in court when the tour ended.  That meant overtime, which we didn't dare expect to get in our paychecks.  The most we could hope for was to get time back, to be used when we accumulated at least eight hours.  We worked in teams of two per car, and we didn't have assigned sectors, which meant we could be patrolling any area of our precinct at any time.

Three unmarked cars were assigned to us, and we had an office adjacent to the detective squad in each precinct.  The proximity to the squad was an extra incentive for us because we were advised that the anti-crime assignment was a step toward that coveted "gold shield."  Each tour began with a review of crimes committed the preceding 24 hours.  As we patrolled the high-crime areas of our precinct, we had an advantage over the marked cars, allowing us to get close to the bad guys before they spotted us.  That was a two-pronged benefit to the law-abiding residents of the community because we were able to come upon crimes in progress and capture (very often after a car or foot chase) the culprits, and secondly, the criminally inclined had to be extra careful when pouncing on a victim due to the fact that any car moving along the avenue could be occupied by cops.

Keep in mind, street thugs are vigilant when it comes to surveying the landscape before plying their nefarious trade.  Hence, when unmarked units like ours began crisscrossing the neighborhoods with indefinite patterns, the muggers were a lot more fearful of being collared.  Moreover, our teams were generally more physically fit than most in the uniformed segment of the department.  It soon dawned on the fleetfooted purse-snatcher or burglar that we had more stamina than they expected when they tried to abscond with their purloined property.  Some of my fondest memories include those long foot races in the streets, over fences, through rear yards and parks, as my quarry continually looked back with terror in his eyes as I closed the gap between us.

Those anti-crime units made up about five percent of a precinct's personnel, but they effected more arrests than the other 95%.  In addition, we can only imagine how much more crime was prevented because the predators no longer had the luxury of feeling confident before they launched an attack on the unwary citizen.  Those were the days in which law enforcement ruled the streets, not lawbreakers.  We knew the environment of the area and the behavior patterns of its malefactors.  When a brutal gang was abusing residents in a given vicinity, we reached out to the gang leader, spoke with him privately, and allowed him to see the error of his ways.  After a good talking to, he made it his mission in life not to disappoint us.  Thus, the residents were able to leave their homes without wondering if their next stop would be a hospital or a morgue.

If anyone tells you that residents of the inner cities want fewer cops on the job and more restraints on cops, he's lying.  No one knows better than an urban dweller that cities can't function without a strong police presence.  Some may view dedicated cops as overzealous, but I assure you that the hoodlums frequenting your orbit are even more zealous in their pursuit of a free lunch at your expense.  I may be an old hair bag retiree now, but I remember a conscientious band of industrious cops who made it possible for decent, hardworking people to go about their lives each day without the mortal fear and the bitter scent of gunpowder as part of the experience.

Mayor de Blasio will regret his dangerous, politically motivated stunt, but not nearly as much as the families of the victims who will lose their lives because of his insanely reckless maneuver.  

Image: Public Advocate Bill de Blasio via Flickr.