NYPD commissioner talks challenges, goals for 2020
Shea grew up one of five kids, the son of two Irish immigrants – his father came from County Laois while his mother grew up near the Mayo-Sligo border – who met in New York City. They settled in Sunnyside, first in a one-bedroom apartment on 44th Street near Skillman Avenue. When the family grew to five kids and a dog, they upgraded to a two-bedroom apartment on the other side of Queens Boulevard.
His father joined the Army, partly as a path to citizenship, eventually reaching the rank of sergeant. He later worked as a bartender and handyman, while his mother was a devoted homemaker. All five kids attended Queen of Angels, and Shea would eventually graduate from Xavier High School in Manhattan.
“Growing up was great, it was solid working-class neighborhood,” Shea said of his childhood.
Perhaps it was this solid upbringing that inspired Shea’s devotion to keeping kids out of the criminal justice system, a priority for him in his new role. That encompasses a number of different initiatives, from providing safe places for kids to go, organizing movie nights in local parks during the summer, or engaging the 5,500 school safety agents who are interacting with kids on a near-daily basis. It also involves using data to make sure that existing services and programs align with areas of high crime.
“Think back when you were that critical age, were you on the edge of potentially getting into trouble?” Shea asked. “And did you have a safe place to go, whether it was a gym or Boys and Girls Club or PAL? All of these things we do already, can we do more of that?”
Shea said the department plans to have a youth coordinator in every precinct. “That is one of the absolute priorities in the next two years,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s probably the most worthwhile investment that we can make.”
The commissioner also sees an opportunity to provide more services when a minor has their first run-in with law enforcement.
“We have kids being brought into precincts when they get into trouble, and then we release them to their parents,” he said. “I would like to slow that process down a minute or two. I think there’s an opportunity there.”
Shea said the ultimate goal is to keep kids from entering the criminal justice system in the first place, and if they do end up there, making sure they have the necessary support to ensure they never return.
“I don’t think kids that are running around shooting people should receive a slap on the wrist, but the whole point of this youth strategy is to make sure they never enter that funnel,” he said. “Once they get on that trajectory and once they start getting arrested, I’m not saying they can’t be saved, but it makes it that much harder.
“But with 29 years of experience and intimate knowledge of the criminal justice system, putting a kid in jail and expecting them to be any better 18 months or two years later, I think we are setting ourselves up for disaster,” Shea adds.
