Union Signs On To Letter Backing Adams' Anti-Crime Program
TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano backed Mayor Adams’ Blueprint to End Gun Violence, signing onto a letter of support along with more than 200 business, civic, and labor leaders. More about the plan here.
The plan includes increasing police resources focused on combating gun violence, spot checks for weapons at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and other inter-state transit hubs, greatly expanding summer youth employment programs, and deploying more violence interrupters – outreach workers, often reformed street gang members, to mediate in volatile situations that could lead to more gunfire.
As Utano noted, the blueprint also rightly focuses on the mental health crisis, which is on display throughout the transit system, making it less safe for workers and riders. The plan calls for the hospitalization of mentally ill individuals who refuse treatment, and pose a danger to themselves or others, if such action is recommended by a doctor and a judge.
“On our buses, in the subway, and in the neighborhoods where we live, transit workers see the need to improve public safety every single day,” Utano said. “All branches ofgovernment must take action, and that includes addressing the mental health crisis more effectively. The mayor’s plan is a big step forward.”