The NYPD answered questions Thursday and laid out a plan to keep people safe this upcoming holiday weekend.

"The one thing that's going to be the same is that the men and women of the NYPD will be out in large numbers. Those who cause violence and endanger lives can expect to be arrested by these same officers," said NYPD Chief Terence Monahan.

Monahan said there will be hundreds of officers focused on Southern Brooklyn this weekend - even with the cancellation of the West Indian Day parade, which normally takes place along Western Parkway on Labor Day.

The NYPD says it will break up any parties that get too large or are a threat to the public.

Shootings across the five boroughs are up 33% this year to date when compared to last year. Since June 1, the NYPD counted 708 shootings, with 899 victims.

Police say retaliatory gang violence is behind a good deal of those shootings. Many of the former NYPD anti-crime officers -- a now disbanded group of plain clothes officers who were responsible for taking many illegal weapons off the streets -- have shifted to combat that sort of violence while wearing a uniform but driving an unmarked car.

Monahan says anyone who wants to defund the police is not invested in public safety.