NYPD officers ordered not to ‘congregate’ or chitchat while on patrol
NEW YORK — The NYPD has ordered officers to avoid hanging out in groups and making chitchat with one another while on patrol, according to an internal memo.
The rules, dated Tuesday, marked a revision to the Police Patrol Guide to ensure cops do not waste time on the job — with emphasis on supervisors’ responsibility.
“Police officers and supervisors will be held strictly accountable for these provisions,” the order reads. “Patrol supervisors are required to ensure that members of the service are not congregating, or engaging in unnecessary conversation, absent police necessity when visiting members of the service.”
The order is meant to “enhance officer safety, deployment strategies and optimize presence in the field.”
While campaigning last year, Mayor Adams, a former NYC Transit cop, said he was “disappointed” with the way NYC subway cops had been deployed throughout the system.
“Cops should not be sitting around fare gates on their phones,” Adams said at the time. “I don’t think police officers are lazy, I don’t think they’re soft. I believe the right leadership would deploy them in the right manner to cover more ground.”
While on a bike ride earlier this month, Adams pulled over to scold a police commander when he spotted nearby cops hanging out together on the sidewalk, video posted to Twitter shows.
“They should not all be congregating together,” Adams, who’s about eight months into his term, told the supervisor.
