NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — The NYPD is deploying additional resources in Central Park beginning Wednesday evening due to the recent surge in robberies in the Manhattan refuge, a crime spike that top officials attributed to groups of young migrants.
Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon that the NYPD will be “deploying numerous resources throughout the days, throughout the weeks, until we take care of this problem. From mounted, to bike patrol, to foot patrol, to cars in the street, to drones, to our transit police.”
The mandate, which began Wednesday evening, comes less than 24 hours after the double mugging of two 20-year-old men near West 62nd Street and West Drive.
As of Aug. 11, robberies in the Central Park Precinct are up 200%, and overall major crimes are up 46% when compared to the same time in 2023, according to the most recent NYPD data.
“The Central Park Conservancy is encouraged by NYPD’s expanded presence in the Park,” a spokesperson told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880. “We want New Yorkers and visitors to continue feeling safe and protected inside this beloved public space that the Conservancy cares for every day of the year.”
According to Chell, the recent robberies typically occur between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. and are committed by groups of 8 to 12 young males. The boys approach their victims in the park and rob them by force of whatever they can take, including airpods and jewelry.
The Chief of Patrol said that there have been roughly 10 robberies in this pattern, most of which happened in or just outside the park.
“At this point in time, we’re ready to call this [a] migrant robbery pattern,” Chell said after referencing the arrest of an 11-year-old migrant boy, who was taken into custody alongside a 17-year-old earlier Wednesday morning for a robbery in the transit system.
The same 11-year-old was caught on camera a couple days before using credit cards stolen during a Central Park robbery.
“We think they’re responsible for most of them if not all of them,” Chell said.
When asked about the deployment of autonomous drones in the park, Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard said that they are coming by the end of the month and will provide expanded surveillance of the massive Manhattan park.
“There’s over 800 acres in this park,” Sheppard said. “It’s going to allow us to cover a big territory, very quickly, and also, allow us to get images and video in places where we don’t have cameras.”
In the meantime, Chell told ABC7 that 40 additional officers will be deployed to the southern part of Central Park during peak evening hours, where and when most of the robberies took place.
Even if they aren’t able to prevent a crime from happening, the Chell said at Wednesday’s press conference that the department has put together a “full fledged apprehension plan.”
“If a robbery does happen, and we don’t prevent it, we have areas that we think will be fruitful for respond to after the robbery, so it’s really an apprehension plan afterward,” he said.
Despite identifying young migrants as the suspects in these crimes, Sheppard emphasized that the deployment of additional resources will be done as a crime deterrent and officers are expected to act in a lawful manner.
“Everything we do is about proactive policing. However, we’re going to do it lawfully,” Sheppard said. “We’re not directing them to stop and question and frisk people randomly, what we’re asking them to do is be attentive, keep your eyes open, be on post and make sure that if something does happen, we’re ready to respond.”
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