New York City’s on track to end 2021 with a more than 5% increase in major crimes for the year, according to the latest NYPD statistics.
Through Dec. 21, the NYPD’s CompStat 2.0 program reported, more than 98,580 major crimes (murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and auto theft) had been tallied year-to-date, up from the 93,231 recorded at the same point in 2020.
The city’s on pace to finish 2021 just shy of 500 murders; as of Dec. 21, 464 homicides were recorded this year, up from the 452 cases tallied at the same point a year ago. And despite the NYPD’s best efforts to stop gun violence — including making thousands of gun arrests this year — shooting incidents are up about 2.4%.
Burglary was the lone major index crime declining this year — down 18.9% from 2020, with a total of 12,221 break-ins reported this year. Other property crimes, however, are helping to drive the numbers higher; grand larcenies are up 12.5%, with 38,996 such offenses tallied, and auto thefts rose 14.3%, with more than 10,000 such incidents occurring this year.
In an interview with NBC New York, outgoing Police Commissioner Dermot Shea — as he has for months — suggested the continued rise in crime was the result of weakened bail reform laws and prosecutors failing to pursue certain criminal cases.
“We are in a place right now which, by any definition, is insanity,” Shea told NBC New York. “When you make public statements, ‘I’m not prosecuting x,’ I think you’re sending a real strong message to the criminal element. Stolen cars were essentially solved in this city, but you’ve taken any penalty away for stealing a car. So it’s become a game in the city.”
Of the eight commands overseeing the NYPD’s 77 precincts, Patrol Borough Manhattan South leads them all, so far, in major crime increases, at 12.7%, followed closely behind by Parol Borough Queens North at 11.9% and Patrol Borough Bronx at 11.2%.
The biggest increases in Manhattan South (1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 17th, Midtown North and Midtown South Precincts) were seen in robberies (up 36% from 2020, with 1,628 incidents) and felony assaults (up 30.8%, with 1,847 incidents).
Queens North (104th, 108th, 109th, 110th, 111th, 112th, 114th and 115th Precincts) saw its biggest crime increases in grand larcenies (up 29.2%, with 5,345 incidents) and rapes (up 13.1%, with 164 incidents).
The Bronx, meanwhile, saw double-digit increases in murder, rape, robbery, grand larceny and auto theft. Felony assaults were also up 6.8%, with 6,084 incidents catalogued. Murders in the borough rose a staggering 34%, with 142 homicides reported through Dec. 21, up from the 106 tallied at the same time in 2020.
Shootings in the Bronx are also dramatically higher; the 495 reported incidents of gun violence marked a 32% increase from the same point in 2020, while the number of shooting victims spiked by 30.1%, to a total of 588 people.
Another disturbing statistic: the proliferation of hate crimes in New York City, which are up 93% citywide year-to-date. The city’s on pace to finish 2021 with more than 500 bias crimes, a shameful figure given the incredible diversity of the Five Boroughs.
This increase comes even after the NYPD went to great lengths to catch the bigots responsible, including assigning undercover officers to help catch hate criminals and establishing a community-based Hate Crime Review Panel to assist the NYPD with targeting bias crimes across the city.
With Mayor-elect Eric Adams and his designated police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, set to take office on New Year’s Day, New Yorkers will be looking to them to turn things around in the year ahead.
