President Trump defends law enforcement and takes aim at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
President Trump answers questions from undecided voters during a town hall event with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday, September 15th.
Violent crime in New York City continued to spike through September, new data shows.
The number of September shooting incidents in the city increased 127% year-over-year from 67 shootings in 2019 to 152 shootings in 2020; September murders spiked 40 percent from 246 people killed in 2019 to 344 people killed in 2020, according to New York Police Department data released Friday.
"Despite the unparalleled challenges they face every day, our officers continue to engage with the community and zero in on the drivers of crime," Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a statement. "I thank the men and women of the NYPD who work relentlessly, day-in and day-out, to keep New Yorkers in every neighborhood safe."
Shea added that the NYPD "will continue to address crime upticks and work in close partnership with" city residents.
Year-to-date, there has been a 91% spike in citywide shooting incidents, a 42% increase in burglaries and a 33% decrease in hate crimes. Rape and robberies decreased in September.
NY GOV CUOMO MAY USE NATIONAL GUARD ON ELECTION DAY
There has also been a 7% increase in gun arrests year-over-year and a 98% increase in gun arrests in September compared to the same time last year despite a 2,500-officer reduction to the Department and a 59% cut to the uniformed overtime budget.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city council agreed to cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget in July and transfer those funds to other community initiatives with a focus on youth safety.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio addresses the media in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo expressed concern with the city's spike in crime during an August press conference.
"We have a problem in New York City when it comes to crime. That is fact," Cuomo said during the conference, citing a statistic that said New York City "shootings with victims" were up 103%. "It's not going to get better on its own."
He added that everyone knows crime is "negative, and it's bad, and people are dying, and the overwhelming majority of those victims are black and brown, and everybody has a sense that crime is worse, and the city is less safe at the same time" the state government is "trying to bring the city back from COVID-19."
New York has faced a summer of hardship after the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on the city's working, youth and elderly populations, as well as a combination of peaceful and violent protests amid civil unrest throughout the country following the officer-involved deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Two officers were shot and one was stabbed in June while they were patrolling Brooklyn in an effort to prevent people from breaking into stores.
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