Just a week after Queens officially welcomed the NYPD’s Quality of Life Teams, Queens Shmira was invited to an exclusive meeting in Flushing to hear more about how these units will impact our neighborhoods. The gathering, held on Tuesday evening, August 19, brought community leaders face to face with the commanding officer of Queens North and the officers now leading the Q-Teams citywide.

Deputy Chief James Glynn, a 21-year NYPD veteran who once spearheaded multi-agency projects like Community Link and Roosevelt Avenue enhancements, now leads the Quality of Life Division. Alongside him, Deputy Inspector Maurice W. Williams has been tasked as a Commanding Officer within the division, helping to ensure borough-level coordination and oversight as the rollout expands.

It was an opportunity to move past the headlines and listen directly to the vision behind this new division. We heard how the Q-Teams are not a passing initiative, but a structured operation embedded into each precinct, with dedicated officers whose only focus is neighborhood livability: abandoned cars, illegal scooters, encampments, and noise conditions that erode everyday quality of life. The officers explained the Q-Stat system, modeled after CompStat, which holds each precinct accountable for how quickly and effectively these complaints are resolved. “We see a problem, we fix it, and we move on. That’s the goal,” related Deputy Chief Glynn.

Since their April launch, the Q-Teams have already answered more than 41,000 calls across the city. Average non-emergency response times have been cut by nearly an hour, and officers have seized 322 illegal scooters and e-bikes while towing over 700 abandoned vehicles. In Queens alone, the new units have taken on more than 2,200 calls, removed 106 abandoned vehicles, and pulled dangerous scooters from local streets. These numbers aren’t just abstract statistics; they represent safer routes for children walking to yeshivah, quieter nights near shuls, and reassurance for parents sending their kids to schools, programs, and camps.

For Queens Shmira, the evening was a chance to strengthen the working relationship with local precinct commanders. In a borough where Jewish life is dense and active, from Kew Gardens Hills to Forest Hills to Jamaica Estates, the coordination between Shmira volunteers and NYPD officers will be essential. Illegal mopeds near yeshivos, unsafe vehicles near shuls, and disorderly activity around community centers are exactly the kinds of conditions these Q-Teams are built to confront.

With Staten Island now joining the rollout, Q-Teams are officially citywide. But for Queens, the takeaway from Tuesday night was that this is a direct line of partnership between community and police. For Queens Shmira, that means neighborhood concerns won’t just be logged into 311 – they’ll be heard, acted upon, and measured in real results.

By Shabsie Saphirstein