NYPD Launches "Rap Unit" to Monitor Crime at Hip-Hop Concerts

The NYPD's Enterprise Operations Unit, also known as the "Rap Unit."

The New York Police Department has created the “Rap Unit,” an on-the-ground operation conducted by the police department to monitor hip-hop shows across the city.

The NYPD's Enterprise Operations Unit, also known as the Rap Unit.

According to The New York Post, the task force organizes a weekly list of rap shows and classifies them as posing a low, medium, or high risk for violence or drug-related incidents. Undercover investigators and officers are planted at events to gather intelligence on individuals that are being monitored.

According to the report, the task force has reportedly monitored Remy Ma, 50 Cent, and more.

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The report cites internal police records and documents with hundreds of pages that reveal the inner workings of the NYPD’s Enterprise Operations Unit, also known as the Rap Unit.

NYPD records show that an email was circulated among members of the Rap Unit ahead of a scheduled appearance by Tekashi 6ix9ine at Club Lust.

“My impression of the hip-hop police is they’re this shadowy, specialized unit that conducts overly aggressive investigations,” Ma’s lawyer Dawn Florio told the Post. “They’re constantly stalking high-profile rap artists and monitoring their every move.”

NYPD spokeswoman Sgt. Jessica McRorie defended the unit saying, “The Enterprise Operations Unit focuses on venues or entertainers that have been connected with past acts of violence — regardless of musical genre. The primary goal of EOU is to anticipate, based on past incidents, where there is a significant likelihood of violence, and to take steps to prevent people from being hurt, or worse.”