By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced the expansion of the City Police Department’s Quality of Life Division across Queens.
NYPD Q-Teams tackle the daily issues that impact New Yorkers’ sense of safety and well-being, including cracking down on illegal mopeds, towing abandoned and derelict vehicles, cleaning up encampments, addressing outdoor drug use, and responding to noise complaints.
To date, Q-Teams have responded to more than 31,500 911 and 311 calls. Starting this past April, the NYPD launched Q-Teams in six pilot commands (the 101st, 13th, 40th, 60th, 75th and Police Service Area 1) and to date, these teams have improved non-emergency response times by an average of 47 minutes citywide, while towing 701 vehicles and seizing 318 illegal e-bikes, scooters, and mopeds, according to the City.
Q-Teams are comprised of officers from across the NYPD who undergo specialized training on how to address non-emergency, quality-of-life concerns, including noise complaints, illegal vending, outdoor drug use, unregistered vehicles, encampments, and reckless e-bike and scooter riding. Each team receives additional instruction in discretionary responses to specific conditions as an alternative to using enforcement tools.
“Every New Yorker deserves to have a level of security, whether it’s taking their kids to school, walking in their neighborhood, going to work, or visiting loved ones. That is why, earlier this year, we created the new NYPD Quality of Life Division and launched a pilot program to address quality-of-life issues across our city, and since expanding the program to Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, the results have got even better,” said Adams.
The NYPD holds monthly Q-Stat meetings — modeled after the NYPD’s main crime data tracker, “CompStat” — to analyze precinct and public service data related to 311 calls and requests. This process helps examine operation outcomes, identify neighborhoods that are most susceptible to recurring quality-of-life issues, and hold precincts accountable. New York City’s 311 system, NYC311, is a non-emergency service that allows New Yorkers to report non-emergency issues, request city services, and discover information about government programs.
“When the Quality of Life Division launched earlier this year, our goal was clear and concise: build a team focused entirely on addressing the conditions that make daily life harder for New Yorkers — and that’s exactly what we have done,” said City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “Our Q-Teams solve the daily problems that add up and chip away at a community’s sense of order. These teams are towing the abandoned vehicle on your block, responding to the noise complaints at late hours, and addressing the illegal parking that has persisted for too long. New Yorkers should feel safe on every block, in every community, and throughout every borough, and with this expansion to every precinct in Queens, we are one step closer to making that a goal reality.”
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz added, “I welcome the expansion of the NYPD’s Quality of Life Q-Teams across the borough of Queens. Residents are rightly concerned about unlicensed smoke shops, abandoned vehicles and unregistered scooters. By focusing on these issues, we help improve public safety in this borough block by block and erase the notion that some portions of the city are more important than others.”
