Mayor Eric Adams and officials with the NYPD and the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) were in Brooklyn Tuesday to tout the reduction in crime and to launch a new crime-prevention initiative that aims to offer resources to at-risk residents.
In an effort to cut crime, the city is taking a SBS truck to communities most impacted by gun violence. Starting in Brownsville on Nov. 14, the mobile unit is offering resources, such as employment opportunities.
“That beautiful van that is behind us is giving people the opportunities that they look forward to,” Mayor Adams said. “We are doing it the right way — upstream — giving someone a job prevents them from participating in any wrongdoing or takes away the incentive to do things that are improper.”
According to City Hall, the Big Apple has hit a post COVID-19 high in terms of job numbers, with 4.7 million jobs being filled. However, this was not the only drum Hizzoner was banging. Adams took a victory lap, championing what he and police heads are heralding as a significant drop in crime.
NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Micheal Lipetri stated that the city has seen a sharp drop in five of the seven major index crimes, including a 12% decrease in homicides and a 26% decline in shootings for the year through Nov. 12, compared to the same period in 2022.
For the year through Nov. 12, there have been 333 murders across the city, down from 382 for the same period last year, according to NYPD data.
The number of shootings has also dropped significantly.
“We are talking over 300 shooting incident reduction from last year, over 500 shooting incident reduction from three years ago,” Lipetri said.
Shootings are down significantly in the 73rd Precinct, which includes Brownsville, with the precinct seeing a reduction greater than any other precinct bar one, Lipetri said. Crime is down across the board in the precinct; for instance, there were six murders for the year through Nov. 12 compared to 19 for the same period in 2022.
“No command in this [city] is trending in a better direction than the 73rd Precinct. Six murders is six too many, yes it is. Six murders in the 73rd Precinct… is historic lows from the CopStat level,” Chief Lipetri said. “It’s a collaborative effort between the community, the businesses, and obviously the NYPD.”
The SBS truck will be in East New York on Wednesday, parked outside of the New Lots Public Library starting at noon.
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