An NYPD bigwig blamed bail reform for the number of guns flooding the Big Apple’s streets and worried about the proliferation of untraceable “ghost guns” in a radio interview that aired Sunday.
“There has not been a time in modern history where this many people have been walking around with guns not fearful of the consequences,” Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller told host John Catsimatidis on his WABC 770 AM radio show.
Miller pointed to an incident just last week to illustrate his point. An NYPD cop, Officer Dennis Vargas, of the Bronx Borough public safety team, was shot in the arm in an exchange of gunfire with a man who had been freed ahead of a sentencing date connected to a past gun bust. The suspect, Rameek Smith, was killed in the Tuesday shootout.
“So you see the triangle of quality of life crimes lead to people involved in other violations of the law, including violent crimes,” Miller said.
City and police officials have made shootings a priority in terms of crime-fighting — with the NYPD launching special anti-gun teams to combat the scourge.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell has said the department is “making noticeable headway” through its increased patrols and Neighborhood Safety Teams.
Nearly 70% of those busted by the new anti-gun units have a prior criminal history, officials have said. But, as The Post revealed last month, some suspects allegedly busted with weapons by the teams were allowed to walk free within hours of their arrest — thanks to lax judges and bail reform.
In the interview, Miller also sounded the alarm about the number of so-called ghost guns – firearms without serial numbers that are bought in parts and built – spiking and adding to the dangerous mix.
“There’s companies that sell the parts and then you log onto a YouTube video and it tells you how to assemble the parts,” Miller, who has met with the ATF in DC about the guns, said.
“Under the current federal law, which is about to change, because they’re selling parts not a completed firearm it’s not considered a firearm by these companies. Nobody’s getting a background check. Nobody has a license. Nobody has a permit.”
The number of the ghost guns has skyrocketed from 17 in 2018 to the hundreds, he said.
NYPD statistics released last month showed the number of ghost guns appearing in the city has exploded this year, with 131 recovered between Jan. 1 and April 6. That is a staggering 351 percent increase over the 29 recovered by cops during the same period in 2021. The ghost guns made up 12 percent of all guns recovered so far, according to the NYPD.
“We’re projecting now we’re probably going to pick up between 500 and 700 ghost guns,” Miller said of 2022.
“No serial numbers, totally untraceable and totally functional as a firearm and we’re finding them at crime scenes.” “For the criminal element, the gun with no father, no mother, no way to trace it is a dream machine that deals death.
Mayor Eric Adams has called for more help from the federal government, and New Yorkers themselves, to help crackdown on the ghost guns scourge.
Miller was unable to say how many shootings were connected to ghost guns in the city when asked recently.
