Top NYPD brass assembled inside One Police Plaza on Wednesday to discuss the latest statistics on their war on crime, with the third quarter seeing a sharp decline in murders, shootings, robberies, and burglaries, according to the top cop. However, the numbers also indicated that felony assaults are on the rise.
Police Commissioner Edward Caban helmed the panel of police chiefs, lauding the NYPD’s efforts to drive down crime over the summer months, calling their work a success.
“Driving the drop in major crime this past quarter was a 23.2% decline in murders and 8.3% decline in robberies and an 18.6% decline in burglaries,” Caban said. “Furthermore, the number of bulk shooting incidents and victims continues to fall compared to last year with 283 fewer shootings and 378 fewer shooting victims [in 2023] versus 2022.”
Commissioner Caban added that during the third quarter of 2023, the number of shootings fell in every borough of the Big Apple while also announcing that index crimes in the transit system fell 8.4% in the third quarter, and 5% year to date.
The head of the country’s largest police force also declared that since Jan. 1, authorities have seized some 5,100 guns and 12,200 firearms since the administration began.
“Not a single one of those weapons will ever harm another innocent person in our city or anywhere else,” Caban said.
When comparing September 2023 to September 2022 alone, this year saw a 34.2% drop in shooting incidents (77 v. 117) while police say they have made 413 gun arrests this month, resulting in 550 illegal guns being removed.
According to Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri, law enforcement were able to stomp down on the numbers by creating 69 zones in hot spots for shootings that spread across 40 police precincts and encompassed 9 miles, making up about 3% of the city. Lipetri said that this 3% made up 29% of all shootings in 2022, with much of the violence occurring between 5:30 p.m. and 4 a.m., prompting the NYPD to deploy hordes of cops on foot in those areas between those time periods.
“We’re talking about thousands of extra officers on foot,” Chief Lipetri said. “Between those hours, we saw a 33% decrease in shootings. We saw 100 less crime victims. We saw increased enforcement, precision enforcement over 7,500 criminal court summons issue precision to the quality life calls that we receive time and time and time again.”
Lipetri also added that 30% of those arrested for carrying firearms are gang members, with a sharp increase also being individuals under the age of 18.
In September Grand Larceny Autos rose by 19.5%, something police and Mayor Eric Adams have attributed to its popularity on social media and faults in certain vehicles. Felony assaults also spiked by 4.5%. Lipetri attributes this increase to attacks on officers and domestic altercations.
“Assaults on police officers, and when we drill down on that our enforcement is up,” Lipetri said. “We also have an increase in domestic violence felony assaults.”
In response to the quarterly crime stats, Mayor Eric Adams issued the following statement:
“We made a promise to keep New Yorkers safe, and the data is clear: We are keeping that promise with a continued overall drop in crime across the five boroughs. Thanks to the relentless work of the men and women of the NYPD, our other public safety agencies, and the investments we have made in upstream solutions, September showed a double-digit decrease in shootings, homicide, burglary, transit crimes, and hate crimes, and the small number of people committing the majority of crimes now see that they will be held accountable. Crime is down citywide and New Yorkers are feeling the results every day,” Adams said.
