NYC to use more non-police 'ambassadors' to urge distancing

NEW YORK (AP) — After an outcry over racial disparities in New York City's enforcement of social distancing, the mayor planned Sunday to double the ranks of non-police workers trying to persuade people to comply with the policy.

The number of city workers deployed as “social distancing ambassadors” will soon grow from around 1,000 to 2,300, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

“More and more, the emphasis will be on a communicative" approach, the Democrat said. “The last thing we want to see is enforcement if there’s any other way to get the job done.”

The city didn’t immediately have information on social distancing arrests or summonses, if any, over the weekend. De Blasio reiterated there have been relatively few but that they need to be issued “fairly and consistently in all communities.”

Criticism has arisen along with videos of violent arrests — including scenes of a police officer running at a black man and throwing him to the ground for mouthing off and an officer punching a man in the head as he lay pinned to a sidewalk — and statistics on the racial breakdown of police action taken in the name of curbing the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

New York City police department data released Friday showed that of the 374 summonses issued through May 5 for violating distancing orders, 52% were given to black people and 30% to Hispanic people.

The mayor on Friday called those statistics “an indicator that something’s wrong we need to fix.” He pledged more training and clearer protocols for officers.

Citing such numbers, police reform advocates have pressed the city to stop using police to enforce rules that require people to wear masks and stay 6 feet (2 meters) apart from anyone who doesn't live in their own household.

De Blasio said Friday that...