The streets and subways of New York City experienced a sharp decline in violent crime throughout the month of October, as recently released NYPD data indicates. The New York Post reports that shootings fell to an all-time low for the year up to October, with 744 persons shot in 596 incidents, bettering the previous low set in 2018. To complement this trend, October also matched the record low for subway crimes set during the 2020 pandemic, as ridership dwindled.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch attributed these significant declines to the NYPD’s “precision policing strategy” and continuously praised the department’s efforts. “We are not just beating the record, we are crushing it,” Tisch said in a statement, as obtained by the New York Post. However, while these figures paint a positive picture of the city’s safety, concerns remain over the broader crime statistics.
Gothamist noted that despite the promising numbers for shootings and murders, the overall crime in NYC is still 27% higher than pre-pandemic levels. The crime rate is not uniformly spread across the city, with areas like Queens North seeing a 53% increase in murders and a 43% uptick in shootings year to date. Criminologist Chris Herrmann conveyed, “It shows you that when there are citywide crime declines, it’s usually not the whole city that’s actually declining.”…