The NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish was arrested on Tuesday following a mob assault on two police officers in Times Square.
Tish spoke out about the city council’s move to eliminate a specific database, claiming it has been crucial in helping law enforcement identify and apprehend several young offenders involved in a recent brawl. She highlighted the involvement of a 16-year-old repeat offender.
“This effort is completely against common sense,” she remarked to the press.
Additionally, Tish noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were present in the police district on Sunday, where one of the suspects was held but was eventually released without being handed over to an agent.
Investigators are examining how federal agents were notified under local sanctuary policies.
“We know that ICE was in our precincts on Sunday morning, and we want to stress that while we look into how they got there, our officers adhered to the procedures set out in our January directive,” Tish explained during a press briefing alongside Mayor Eric Adams and other NYPD officials.
She expressed surprise at ICE’s presence, stating it seemed to infringe upon the city’s immigration policies. “At that moment, the police didn’t hand the individual over,” she added.
The city’s sanctuary status remains a contentious issue, complicating relationships between the NYPD and ICE. The NYPD has coordinated with federal immigration officials to ensure that detained immigrants are transferred for deportation when necessary.
Adams, who previously supported this collaborative approach, mentioned that tips to ICE might have originated from bystanders and witnesses.
Tish described the attack on the officers as resembling a “wolf pack” style incident while they attempted to intervene in a robbery at a well-known intersection.
She credited the NYPD Gang Database for enabling the quick arrests of the suspects, which includes references to a gang known as Diablos de La 42, linked to the larger Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.
