Assemblyman William Colton (D – Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights) is grieving as we now bid farewell to the two NYPD officers Jason Rivera and officer Wilbert Mora. The two heroes made the ultimate sacrifice in protecting all New Yorkers. As we continue to remember them and their families in our prayers, we all now owe it to these heroes to start publicly supporting and not negatively defaming all our NYPD heroes. The five NYPD officers within the month of January were shot and two of them had lost their lives due to gun violence. 

“My neighborhood team 47^th AD District Leaders Charles Ragusa, Nancy Tong, and I strongly support Mayor Adams in his plan to fight against gun violence in New York City. We must get guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals and gang members. We must support such proven measures as reinstating professional undercover police officers, community policing, increasing mental health and family services, and measures to remove the root sources of crime, all as part of a broad strategy to stop crime,” Colton stated.

“Every level of government must actively come together to support this. Executive, Legislative and Judicial officials must honestly look at the impacts of changes in the law on removing violent repeat offenders from the streets, also stopping illegal guns from being sold and possessed by such criminals and gang members. We need to take this seriously. Gun violence became more of a crisis in the city in 2020,” Colton continued.

“Mayor Adams is providing the leadership to stop gun violence in the city of NY, and he will face strong opposition from many fronts. Let all in the community unite to help achieve these critical goals. We must stop any form of violence and make sure that our city is as safe as possible for all New Yorkers and visitors,” Colton added.