Due to a persistent scarcity of police officers, New York City this week put out a call for bids from private security firms to guard its migrant facilities.
In accordance to the union Teamsters Local 237, the position is too “volatile” and even “dangerous” for unarmed peace officers, the New York Post stated. The union’s president, Gregory Floyd, outlined how peace officers are ill-prepared to handle any possible risks at these facilities.
“There are immigrants who are gang members within these facilities,” he tells the Post. “It’s erratic. It is hazardous. We don’t know how well these immigrants have been screened. My group is unarmed.”
According to Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, the cost of the flood of migrants that will impact the city’s tax base by next summer is expected to be $4.5 billion. According to city officials, the cost of providing assistance for migrants, such as Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Relief Centers, is already close to $8 million per day. The price of the added private security is currently unknown.
Joe Borelli, the minority leader of the Republican City Council, criticized the city for sending a confusing message about safety.
According to Borelli, “on the other hand, the city is assuring citizens how safe all of these migrant shelters are in their communities. The city is paying millions of dollars to keep migrants safe while this is happening.”
“In response to the enormous influx of people seeking asylum showing up in New York,” NYC Health + Hospitals, a government-operated public health care system that oversees several of the city’s HERRC locations, solicited bids for private protection this week.
The request claimed that “the primary responsibility of security is to ensure the safety of visitors and employees while establishing a warm and secure environment for all individuals on the site. The safety-related HERRC procedures and protocols must be followed strictly.”
The department is down by at least 1,200 officers as a result of a rise of “voluntary quits” and a continuing recruiting issue, according to the city’s police union, which spoke to The Washington Post.
Adams was accused by Staten Island’s Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of preferring immigrants over locals.
“Public safety is the top priority in our community, but instead of employing more police, he is spending taxpayer money on additional programs for immigrants,” according to Malliotakis, who spoke to the Post.
She said, “The city lacks police officers and detectives, so the ones we do have become overworked, which only increases the stress and pressure that’s forcing police officers to retire and move to other municipalities.”
