NEW YORK (AP) — Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton and New York police Commissioner Ray Kelly are teaming up to help get guns off city streets.
They held a press conference together Friday.
Sharpton has been a longtime critic of the New York Police Department. But he says he’ll do all he can to help the NYPD stem gun violence. He says it’s important to stop gun violence in the black community.
Kelly says 73 percent of the city’s shooting victims are black.
Sharpton says he plans to promote the NYPD’s Gun Stop program. The program offers a reward to anyone who turns in a weapon — no questions asked.
Shootings in the nation’s largest city are up this year. There have been 1,590 victims of gun violence reported, about 60 more than through the same time last year.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.