While he's more than willing to help out with training, Police Commissioner William Bratton says he doesn't see the NYPD patrolling shelters anytime soon. NY1's Courtney Gross filed the following report.
The NYPD may be retraining peace officers at homeless shelters, but don't expect New York's Finest to police shelters themselves anytime soon.
"I have no intention of taking over security for the homeless shelters," said Police Commissioner William Bratton.
Bratton made the comments at the City Council on Monday, where he was asked about the violence that has inundated the shelter system.
All last week, NY1 uncovered hundreds of reports from inside shelters examining the graphic details of how violent city shelters have become.
"It's a real issue and it has been for decades, and it really has to be fundamentally be addressed differently. So we brought in the NYPD," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "They will create a security plan for each shelter and train the city security force that is in those shelters."
But the police commissioner was not eager to go beyond that, drawing a firm line when NY1 asked him about it at City Hall.
"WIth police more directly involved with security at the shelters, that's personnel. And right now, our personnel are all allocated for other purposes," Bratton said. "Right now, we are just going to do that evaluation and to lend assistance where we can."
Beyond violence in homeless shelters, the police commissioner also addressed a recent spike in slashings and stabbings citywide.
"We will begin turning those numbers around as we get a better sense of where it's happening, who is committing it and what we might do to prevent it," Bratton said.
So far this year, there have been 899 stabbings or slashings. As of this point in 2015, there were 748. That's a 20 percent increase.
Bratton and the mayor are expected to unveil a new initiative to address this violence on Tuesday.
"We will be in a position that over time will have a much more positive impact on that issue," Bratton said.