Finest unit to focus on gun-toting hoods

THE NYPD has created a new unit with a sole mission to rid the streets of guns, officials said Wednesday.

But the new Citywide Anti-Crime Team will be nothing like the Street Crime Unit, which was disbanded in 1999 after the shooting death of unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo, officials said.

“It’s not the same mission as street crime. It’s very targeted enforcement against people that carry guns and commit violent acts,” NYPD Chief of Department James O’Neill told the Daily News.

“This is something that we talk about all the time. We know the geography. We know the people involved. So it just makes sense to have a group of seasoned cops and supervisors target those individuals — and that’s how we’re going to push violence down further than it is now.”

The Street Crime Unit — which had the motto “We Own the Night” — was axed after Diallo was shot 19 times while reaching for his wallet by cops from the unit in 1999.

O’Neill said officers from the new team won’t be jumping out of police cars and making street arrests, focusing instead on building cases through intelligence and evidence gathering.

The unit was created less than two weeks ago.