Transcript: Mayor Adams Makes Public Safety-and Technology-Related Announcement With Mayors From AAMA

July 26, 2024

Watch the video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZe3U2tnY4g

Mayor Eric Adams: First of all, thank you and oftentimes I'm here doing press conferences and I'm getting a lot of heat, but now I've got my mayors with me. I want to really thank the president of AAMA, who's here, Mayor Reed, as well as my other mayors from across the entire country. They're here for the AAMA Summit that's taking place, the African American Mayors Association. 

We will all tell you the problems we're facing in New York is no different than across the entire country, so it's imperative that today was a focus on technology and how we can use technologies to run our city better. Nothing is more significant. We will all say it. I say it often here, but they feel the same way. Public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity. Our cities must be safe. We realize the challenge that gun violence is playing on our country and it falls on the laps of mayors. We go to the funerals, we have to deal with the families, we have to deal with the overproliferation of guns. We don't make the federal laws that are allowing these guns to go on to our streets, but we have to police, make sure our police departments are responding to them accordingly. 

I want to just really acknowledge all of my fellow mayors that are here for their support and this cross-pollination of ideas that we are experiencing as we deal with the tough issues that our cities are facing. They too believe that we have an obligation to protect our citizens, make our cities more livable and affordable for everyday people that are in them and that's what we were elected to do. I say it over and over again, the people of these cities, they did not elect us to define the problem. They elected us to solve the problem and the device we are going to be utilizing during this pilot project that we're doing is going to be in our subway system. 

Our subway system is the lifeblood of our city. In the beginning of my administration, we saw a horrific shooting that took place in Sunset Park and we know when you're in a close confinement like this, how dangerous it is if a person is armed with a weapon. The goal is to prevent that from taking place in the first place. We cannot say enough for Chief Kemper. We started out with a slight uptick in crimes in our subway system in January, but ever since you saw the media turnaround, Chief Maddrey ensured that we infused with Commissioner Caban, that we infused 1,000 more officers into our system and early this month, we reported that transit crime was down 7.8 percent so far this year. Robberies are at their lowest level in recorded history. These numbers say a lot. If you were to remove the two years from the COVID, we have a 14-year low in crimes in the subway system. 4.1 million riders, about five felonies a day out of 4.1 million riders. That's a great stat. If you had that record in baseball, you would be in the Hall of Fame. This is a Hall of Fame team that's here right now. 

We have made real progress; however, you cannot rest on your success. The goal is to continue to move forward and find what is the next step, and the next step in our ongoing progress we're announcing today, we're officially launching an initial pilot of a groundbreaking new weapons detection technology, working with our partners in the private sector. Many ideas are in the private sector, and we want to embrace them. We will be deploying electromagnetic detection system at select subway stations over the next month. Many New Yorkers will be familiar with this type of technology. It's not new. It's being used in big cities across the country and outside the country. We're currently using similar technology at the Met, One Vanderbilt, Citi Field, and ten Major League Baseball stadiums around the country. We're urging all companies out there that are looking to develop this technology, we want them to reach out to our team because we want the best product for New Yorkers. Competition is good, and we believe the mere fact we're doing it here and have mayors from across the country that's here, we're going to see some new innovation in this area. 

Finally, to be able to detect if someone is carrying a gun and where that gun is located on that person's body. This is good technology. Now, would I rather us not having to walk through devices like this? You're darn right I would rather. Would I rather that we don't have to be scanned? Yes. But if you would speak to the average subway rider, they would state they don't want guns on their system. If it means using scanners, then bring the scanners on. I'm going to do everything possible, and I want to be clear on this, we're going to protect our riders, and this is not typical law enforcement. This is to add on to and leverage technology to prevent shootings in our subways, and this is about preventing mass casualty incidents. 

All of these mayors here can tell you about the shootings that they're experiencing in their cities and how it has impacted the feeling of being safe that will go with the actual safety. We have been doing bag checks in our training system for decades. This is just a continuation of that to add on to our bag check. The technology is layered on top of that procedure where officers would be well-trained to make sure we carry out every constitutional safeguard. Just as with bag checks, we would not be announcing in advance where or when we are doing this. It could be every fifth, tenth, or twentieth person. It would vary from day to day. Just as someone can refuse a bag check, they can refuse a scan. If they refuse a bag check and a scan, they have to get off our system because you have to follow the rules, and this is the rule. 

Finally, this 30-day pilot will cost the city nothing. That is the word that mayors like to hear often. It's the four-letter word of free, and that's what this is so we can examine the product. We understand that we must be transparent about how this technology will be used, and that's why NYPD personnel posted details about the technology online as required. 

I cannot make it any clearer. These mayors will agree we have an obligation to keep the people of our city safe, and that is what we are going to do. I'm hopeful that this is the type of technology, as the mayors are examining what we're doing in this city, they will look towards some of the technology we're using, and we're going to learn from them as well. I want to turn it over to the great mayor of St. Louis, Mayor Jones, who will come on at this point. 

St. Louis, Missouri Mayor Tishaura Jones: Thank you, Mayor Adams, and thank you all for joining us today. My name is Tishaura Jones, and I'm the mayor of St. Louis, Missouri. What Mayor Adams' administration is doing with innovative technology to improve public safety transit is a great example of forward-thinking ways we're all looking towards making all of our cities safer. 

Technology, when used well, can help rebuild our city governments, modernize processes, and make our communities safer. Throughout my term as mayor, we've achieved amazing progress in reducing crime and improving public safety in St. Louis. We've seen a 24 percent reduction in shooting incidents and a 23 percent decrease in shooting victims. That's directly linked to our investment in technologies like ShotSpotter, which allows for a quicker response time in gunfire incidents. Another noteworthy statistic is a 39 percent reduction in felony theft and a 19 percent reduction in auto theft, which is related to our increased use of surveillance cameras and data-driven policing technologies like CompStat. 

By looking at crime trends and using our resources more effectively, we've been able to make our neighborhoods safer. Community engagement platforms have also played an important role in cleaning up our city. By allowing residents to report crimes and submit tips, we've improved communication and trust between the community and police. By prioritizing our government processes and procedures, our residents are starting to feel safer. We embrace technology in a smart manner. We make city government more accessible and easier, not harder, for people to do what they need to do. Investing resources and modernizing government ultimately saves us time, saves us money, and improves the quality of life for all of our residents. 

We're all looking for solutions to make our cities safer and improve outcomes for our residents. Our conversations with fellow member mayors today and leaders in innovation have been nothing short of amazing. This summit gives us a chance, as Black mayors representing millions of residents in some of the most diverse and economically vital cities in this nation, to discuss how we can use technology to make our cities safer, healthier, stronger, more efficient, and more responsive to the needs of citizens. 

There's a lot we have to learn from each other, and these types of conversations can happen when we make space for them. That's what this Tech Summit is all about, meeting and hearing from mayors and civic leaders on a multitude of important issues around technology, and how we can make our cities safer with tech, and how we can make tech work better for our cities. Now it is my honor to introduce the president of the African American Mayors Association, Mayor Steven Reed of Montgomery, Alabama.

Montgomery, Alabama Mayor Steven Reed: I want to thank all of you for joining us today. My name is Steven L. Reed, mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, and also the president of the African American Mayors Association. As you've seen here, technology and innovation plays an integral role in the safety and success of all of our cities, which is why our discussions earlier today at AAMA's first inaugural Tech Summit have been so important. 

AAMA mayor-led cities across the country are looking at tech successes, like those here in New York City, to bring to our cities, and to see how important it is to share those resources to make government more efficient. This summit has been an incredible opportunity to bring leaders together, to discuss how we can ensure our cities remain on the cutting edge of innovation, delivering results that create inclusive economic growth that is felt by all of our residents and all of our citizens. 

As the president of the African American Mayors Association, we collectively represent over 500 mayors across the nation, from cities large and small, from the West Coast to the East Coast, all the way to the Heartland, from North and South, impacting the everyday lives of more than 25 million Americans. Whether it's New York City, Montgomery, Alabama, or St. Louis, Missouri, and beyond, all of our cities stand to benefit from ensuring that our municipalities are integrating the best available technology, like Mayor Adams is doing right here in New York, and the very best practices. 

Kudos to Mayor Adams and his team for leading the way. This forum is a badly-needed space for us to share what has worked here in New York, but what's also possible to work in our communities regardless of their size, to learn from one another, to share knowledge and information, and to make sure that we're adopting those best practices that will lead to safer communities, that will lead to safer outcomes for our residents as well as our officers. 

Looking at new technologies, like artificial intelligence, presenting enormous opportunities for the better-functioning and flourishing of our cities. That's the goal of this conference for us. That's the goal of these conversations. When we're here in New York City, and we're meeting and discussing and learning from one another, it is to better ensure the outcomes for our results, and the outcomes and results for all of our residents, respective of our cities. 

Even as we talk about driving growth and innovation, as Black mayors, we understand that there's an imperative to ensure that prosperity is inclusive. In my city, a majority of mine in particular, has been creating a more diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem and supporting minority-built businesses, something that I know remains at the heart of what Mayor Adams does right here in New York. We're so grateful for all the mayors that stand beside us and behind us, and those who could not attend in person but joined us virtually for the work that they do. 

We've had some incredible panels and conversations throughout the day, talking to private sector leaders, talking to philanthropic leaders about ways that we can increase the impact of safety and artificial intelligence and just technology overall in the lives of our everyday residents. We look forward to continuing this conversation. We look forward to Mayor Adams guiding us and sharing some of the best practices of New York City, some of those of which we can take back, and many of those which we'll seek to learn from to implement in our respective communities. Thank you all so much for being here today, and we look forward to an exciting day tomorrow. Thank you. 

Mayor Adams: Thank you so much, Mr. President. We're going to have our counsel, Counsel Gerber. Come on. Come on up. This is your time. When they start asking me questions, I brought my lawyer with me. We'll take a couple of questions.

Question: You said that people could refuse the bag checks and scanners, can you refuse the scanner and opt for the bag check? And then secondly, to Mayor Jones and Mayor Reed, are you considering anything like this in your cities?

Deputy Commissioner Michael Gerber, Legal Matters, Police Department: So the way it’s going to work during this pilot is when we roll this out, at a certain location, there’s a count that’s set. It could be every 10th rider, every 15th, 20th. It's just going to vary. Then if the person is on that count, right, if let's say the count is 10, they're the 10th person, then if they have a bag, the bag's getting checked, and they're walking through the scanner. They can decline to do either of those things, but if they're not doing both, they have to come out of the system.

Question: [Inaudible.]

Deputy Commissioner Gerber: Exactly.

Question: [Inaudible.]

Deputy Commissioner Gerber We disagree. We think this is completely lawful, consistent with the case law. There's an entire special needs doctrine under the Fourth Amendment, which really is talking about this type of scenario. Doing what we're doing in order to keep people safe, and in particular, to prevent shootings on subways. That's the thing the special needs doctrine is meant for. Then in terms of the accuracy, we did lots of testing. That's testing, again, on members of service, or internal testing. We believe that the technology, as we're deploying it, is going to be quite accurate.

Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, Operations, Police Department: Marcia, as I was standing here, I arrived about 30 minutes earlier, and I was standing here talking to a couple of officers, talking to some of the staff, and I heard people as they were exiting this particular corridor right here, when they looked at the machine, they said it's about time that the city's doing something. 

Honestly speaking, probably over 100 people. They were applauding it, saying that, and I asked one person, I go, how would that make you feel, knowing that this machine could be at the station where you went to win? That person said, I would feel a lot more comfortable knowing that the city is finally doing something to try to prevent guns from coming into our subway system, so…

Question: I'm just asking if you use anything like this in your own city, is that something you're considering?

Mayor Reed: It's certainly something we're considering. We try to make sure that all of our transportation, our public transportation, is safe and secure. One of the reasons we're coming here is to learn best practices that you all are doing right here in New York City. Again, I applaud May Adams and his administration for really showing some things that we're doing, beyond just the basic metal detectors, beyond just some of the basic wanding of people, and what other technologies can be utilized.

Mayor Jones: This piece of technology, in particular, we're already using in our stadiums, and we've also done a pilot with City Hall as well.

Question: My question is, this technology was already facing some lawsuits before it's being piloted here. Why use it then here as a pilot if it's had so many issues in other places?

Deputy Commissioner Gerber: I just want to emphasize, right, before we rolled it out today, we did a lot of our own testing, sending members of service through the technology, various things on their person. We did our own testing, our own evaluation of reliability, and we're confident that it's reliable and we're comfortable with the way we're deploying it.

Question: If the city finds this a successful pilot program, what would the price tag be for a subway station?

Deputy Commissioner Gerber: It's a pilot, so it's too soon to say.

Question: I'm trying to understand how it works. Is it going to be directly in front of the turnstile, or are people going to walk away to a table with a bag check to step through it? Also, will they be escorted out of the station if they decline?

Chief Michael Kemper, Chief of Transit, Police Department: It's going to be positioned before people pay, before they pay. It's not going to be they pay and then they're going to be subject to this. It was mentioned before, if they opt to decline, hey, I don't want to go through the machine, I don't want to get wanded, no problem. There's nothing wrong with that. They just will not be allowed entry into the subway system. 

Question: Will they be escorted out of the station by police? 

Chief Kemper: They'll be asked to leave if they refuse and act disorderly. They could be, but they're certainly not going to be allowed entry through the turnstile and into the subway system.

Question: With a station like this with so many entrances, can someone just go upstairs and go through another turnstile?

Chief Kemper: Yes, they could. We'll have cops positioned all over. It's a hypothetical. Here's what's certain. They will not be going into the subway system through that turnstile that they refused to participate in.

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Mayor, I just wanted to say one more thing. We're not saying this is the end-all solution for weapons detection. Like the mayor says, he put a call out to other tech companies to contact us. Because you guys ran a couple of stories today, I already got three companies that contacted me. We are in the process of vetting other companies to see if we can introduce new technology down here to keep strap hangers in New York safe. 

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