New York City caps off summer with drop in murders, shootings
Other crimes, however, rose last month
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York City ended the summer with data showing murders and shootings dipped down in August compared to the same month in previous years.
New York Police Department data show murders dropped by 51% from Aug. 1 - 28 of this year, at 25 murders — compared to the 51 murders recorded during the same time period in 2021.
The 25 murders last month marks a more than 50% decrease in murders during August 2020 and a 26% decreased compared to 2019 — the year prior to murders historically spiking across the country. There have been 282 reported murders from the start of the year through Aug. 28, compared to the 315 reported during the same time period in 2021.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shooting incidents in August dipped by 22%, at 110 shootings from Aug. 1 - 28, compared to 141 during the same time period last year. The number of shooting victims fell to 129 last month compared to 187 reported victims in August 2021. All in, shooting incidents have fallen by nearly 11% so far this year compared to the same time period in 2021.
FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER REVEALS EXACT MOMENT POLITICIANS 'CREATED' CRIME CRISIS IN NYC
NYPD officers respond to the scene of a shooting that left multiple people injured in the Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough on April 06, 2021, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The Big Apple was among cities across the country that saw violent crimes skyrocket in 2020 — when the nation grappled with coronavirus-related lockdowns that upended society in unprecedented ways and when calls to defund the police reverberated across the nation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The number of shootings in New York City increased by 97% in 2020 compared to 2019 and murders jumped by 44% compared to the year prior.
MOST NYC RESIDENTS SAY CITY IS LESS SAFE SINCE PANDEMIC, FEAR BEING VICTIM OF VIOLENT CRIME
Murders across the board spiked by nearly 30% in 2020 compared to the year prior, according to FBI data, marking the largest single-year increase in killings since the agency began tracking the crimes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former cop, campaigned on a platform of cracking down on crime last year as New Yorkers reported feeling unsafe in their own city. He has since touted the importance of officers patrolling the city’s streets, and has taken on initiatives such as revamping how officers police public transportation and cracking down on illegal guns in the city.
Mayor Eric Adams attends joined introduction of new public school superintendents with Schools Chancellor David Banks at Tweed Courthouse. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
"Public safety and the criminal justice system includes police and when I go to my communities of color, and I’ve never heard them, never, heard them say: ‘Eric we want less police.’ Never," Adams said on a radio show last month.
Adams' press secretary, Fabien Levy, told Fox News Digital later Monday that the mayor "has made clear that public safety is his top priority, which is why he and the NYPD are working every day to remove guns from our streets, protect our communities, and create a safe, prosperous, and just city for all New Yorkers."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Reducing crime in the city won’t happen overnight, but thanks to the NYPD’s efforts, both homicides and shootings are down by double digits. We’ve also taken more than 4,800 guns off the street this year and gun arrests are at a 27-year high. There is still work left to do, which is why we are taking some of the biggest actions in years to protect New Yorkers. We will never stop fighting to protect the residents of this city," Levy continued.
FBI DATA SHOWS LARGE INCREASE IN MURDERS IN 2020 NATIONWIDE
As murders and shootings fell this year, nearly all other crimes in the city have ticked up. Robberies, burglaries, grand larcenies and auto thefts have all risen in the city by between 32.6% and 46.6% each so far this year compared to 2021, the New York Post reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The sun sets on the Empire State Building, One Vanderbilt and the Chrysler Building in New York City on March 14, 2021, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey. ((Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images))
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Reports of rape have also increased by nearly 9% compared to 2021, according to NYPD data examining crime from the start of the year through Aug. 28. Rape incidents in the month of August, however, fell by roughly 8% compared to August 2021.