THE NYPD dispatches its best to track down the city’s worst criminals — and the fugitives almost invariably end up in cuffs.
The dangerous busts are most often done quickly and quietly, the work of a small, elite and dogged group known as the
Queens Violent Felony Squad.
One of its members, Detective Kevin Herlihy, was shot and wounded in Harlem last Tuesday.
“We all love the hunt,” explains squad commander Lt. Paul Weeks. “We are doing police work and we are doing God’s work, trying to make it safe for everyone.”
Herlihy’s colleagues travel the borough, the city and sometimes the world to collar fleeing crooks.
Almost none of the bad guys stay on the run for long.
In 2011, the relentless squad handled 89 cases — and all but one suspect was in custody, a stunning 99% clearance rate.
In addition to busting criminals in short order, the team operates with one other goal —
“to go home to their families at night,” said Weeks, a 19-year NYPD veteran.
The chase that sent Herlihy after a gunman through a crowded Harlem subway station on Tuesday was typical — it involved a violent felony suspect tracked down in barely a day’s time.
But other aspects were unusual: Shots were fired, an officer was wounded, it happened in the middle of the day.
In a perfect world, the squad springs on unsuspecting suspects in the morning light and brings them in without a struggle.
“It’s the element of surprise,” Weeks said. “A lot of times these guys are just coming in from partying or they’re half asleep. They don’t know what hit them.”
Like Sean Peace, 22, busted in December while sleeping around 8 a.m. on a relative’s couch in Buffalo. The suspect was charged with seven holdups, including one where a livery cab driver with $28 in his pocket was shot four times.
Many of the fugitives take refuge with family and friends. Some have fled as far as Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republican. Others promised to go out in a blaze of glory.
“When we are going after these guys, (the detectives) are at the top of their game,” Weeks said. “They have to be.”
The tight-knit team is helped in its efforts by a low caseload, often just two or three at a time. Currently, the squad is working 11 active cases.
The targets are all violent perps on the run, most often wanted for murder or nonfatal shootings. Local precincts pass the hard cases along to the felony squad, which wastes no time in starting the chase.
“We hit the ground running,” said Weeks. “As soon as we get the call, detectives hit the computer.”
But running databases is no substitute for pounding the pavement.
“We talk to family members, acquaintances, co-defendants at Rikers,” Weeks said. “We try to go in deep and ask, ‘What makes this criminal? Where would you go if you did something like this?’
“Databases give us bits and pieces of the puzzle, but we put it together.”
Plainclothes detective Herlihy, 47, the father of three, is a seven-year squad veteran and one of its most trusted investigators.
A videotape caught him fearlessly running through the W. 145th St. subway station and returning fire as Michael McBride emptied his revolver at the detective.
Reached Saturday, Herlihy said his brush with death has left his family shaken.
“It’s very overwhelming. It’s very stressful,” Herlihy said. “The whole situation is stressful for my whole family.”
The selfless bravery came as no surprise to Weeks, who is constantly awed by the commitment and courage of his team.
“If something bad happened to one of my family members, these are the guys I want bringing justice,” he said.
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