#Undercover NYPD to be redeployed for anti-Asian hate crimes

Undercover NYPD cops will be redeployed to help handle the recent surge of anti-Asian hate crimes across the city, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Tuesday. 

The top cop acknowledged during a NY1 appearance that anti-Asian attacks have “certainly ratcheted up since last year.” He said that the department is working to step up patrols. 

“When you look at different sections of New York City, whether it’s in Chinatown, whether it’s here in lower Manhattan, whether it’s in Flushing or parts of Brooklyn, you’re going to see uniformed, as well as some people that may surprise you,” Shea said.

“And we’ll have more to say on that when we redeploy some of our undercover officers, if you will, to be out there and to make sure that, you know, people aren’t being unfairly targeted, whether in the transit system or above ground.”

He did not provide any further details on the deployment, and the NYPD said it does not “discuss staffing levels for security reasons.”

Recent anti-Asian crimes in the city include the attack on a 37-year-old woman in NoHo as she headed to a rally decrying the recent violence Sunday.

The alleged assailant, Erick Deoliveira, 27, who was arrested on hate crimes charges Monday, also stomped on the sign the woman was carrying to the protest, cops said.

A pipe-wielding man also bashed an Asian woman in the face after yelling about her race in a suspected hate crime on the Lower East Side Sunday afternoon, police said. 

“You know, we started to really see an increase in numbers around the time [of] coronavirus, but it’s also been something that’s been here under the surface,” Shea said. “I made a comment last week, that I think the numbers are much higher. And all of a sudden now you see many people coming out.”

“So is it that more people are coming out? Or is it that these things were always happening and people are starting to maybe feel a little more comfortable in reporting?” he added.

“Maybe it’s in the middle? But it’s important to acknowledge all this, I think, and more importantly, what are we going to do so that no one feels unsafe walking outside?”