Since Mayor Eric Adams took office as Mayor of New York City, the president has waged a tough battle to get Albany to reverse or repair some of the justice reform laws that he has denounced as responsible for much of the insecurity. of the Big Apple, a fact that defenders of the changes do not see in the same light.
And this Thursday, after revealing that despite 2022 with a 22% increase in crime, crime in the five counties has been showing a considerable downward trend since November, contrary to the perception held by a large part of the population. New York City, the president took the opportunity to announce that while the NYPD continues to fight crime, the City will continue to pressure state legislators to enact laws that contribute to security. His main crusade will be to try to stop repeat criminals, and prevent them from leaving prison to continue committing crimes, since last year’s serious crimes were 126,537, compared to 103,388 in 2021.
This was stated by Mayor Adams, at a press conference that took place at the NYPD central command, where the Uniformed Forces presented the crime figures with which the Big Apple closed 2022, where they warned that the general crime rate continued to decrease , and last December it was reduced by 11.6%.
As for shootings, the month closed with 29.2% less, with casualties mostly in Queens and Brooklyn, and at an annual level they fell 17.2%, with these armed actions and homicides registering the greatest progress, since violent deaths they were reduced by 16.5%, with 1,566 victims.
The burgomaster stated that in order to achieve the common front that the NYPD has made with other authorities in order to continue in its objective of reducing crime in New York neighborhoods, the support of measures that must be reviewed in the penal reform is urgent.
“My focus is clearly on repeat offenders, dangerous people attacking innocent people in the streets, and so we can’t leave (the Legislature) without a real plan for how to deal with these repeat offenders; it’s a real need for the city,” Adams said, while calling for more New Yorkers, from different ethnic groups and backgrounds, to join the NYPD.
Showing with data the need to take immediate action on repeat offenders, the NYPD affirms that it has fully identified 750 individuals as responsible for a good part of the total shootings that occurred in the Big Apple, and most of them have already been in prison. Similarly, 439 thieves who have been arrested have been responsible for more than three thefts and 1,200 detainees who committed acts of property robbery, committed other crimes within 60 days upon leaving.
In addition to confirming that the City needs more men and women for the Uniformed, he maintained his commitment that he will not allow NYPD officers to commit abuses.
“The call is clear to make our city safe and that is why it is important for me to deal with security without using abusive forms of public security that we have seen in the past,” said the president, who was optimistic about the fight against crime in this year.
“We left 2022 with crime with a downward trend in shootings and homicides; We did more than patrol, there was coordination with all the authorities, since the NYPD cannot do it alone. It is unfair that the NYPD is only talked about in matters of public safety and I know that we have more to do to make New Yorkers safer and my obligation is to make sure that security is real”, added the political leader of the City.
And despite the fact that a sector of the Big Apple and New York politicians oppose the greater presence of the police force in the streets and the transportation system, since they affirm that it ends up criminalizing poor communities, instead of investing those resources in community programs , the Mayor of New York defended the foot of force that has been increased in the city, mainly in the Metro and in the county of The Bronx, to where thousands of uniformed officers have been deployed.
Data from the NYPD reported that the last month of 2022 registered 10,164 criminal acts, a lower figure than the crime rate for the same period in 2021, which had 11,496 crimes. Likewise, five of the 7 main categories of crimes experienced decreases, mainly homicides, which had a 26.1% reduction, grand thefts, which fell 25.9%, rapes, which presented a decrease of 11.5% , property thefts, which fell 10.2%, and thefts, which fell 8.3%.
Other notable achievements of 2022 have to do with the confiscation of 7,135 illegal weapons and a 2.8% increase in firearms arrests, which was 4,627 detainees. At a general level, arrests rose by 20.8%, with 15,324 New Yorkers deprived of their liberty, 30% of them occurred in the county of The Bronx. The number of reported hate crimes also decreased in December by more than 80%.
The NYPD mentioned that the panorama of crime reduction was equally positive when presenting the figures for the last quarter of last year, although the reduction in crime was only 1.5%.
The New York Police Commissioner, Keechant L. Sewell, mentioned that although a good part of 2022, where crime increased 22%, it is positive to see that the year ended with a drop in crime, as she said, as a result of the commitment of the Uniformada, which focused on reducing gun violence by treating it as a crisis.
“This work was reflected in the year-over-year declines we saw in the hundreds of shooting incidents, shooting victims, and murders in 2022, and our neighborhoods are safer because of it. As we flip the calendar, the NYPD is confident in the future of our department, our city and all the people we serve,” said the NYPD chief. “Our team is ready and we are stepping up to meet and overcome any challenges we may face in 2023 and beyond.”
Crimes in public housing presented a decrease in December of 13.5%, with 447 reported cases.
Crime in New York City in numbers
- 750 criminals, a large part of them repeat offenders, were responsible for a high proportion of the shootings
- 11.6% reduction in crime was recorded in December
- 22% was the increase in crime between 2021 and 2022
- There were 126,537 major criminal acts in 2022.
- 29.2% decreased shootings in December
- 17.2% decreased shootings in all of 2022
- Homicides were reduced by 16.5% in all of 2022
- 1,566 were the victims in 2022.
- Major thefts fell by 25.9% in December
- 11.5% reduction in rapes in December
- 7,135 illegal weapons were taken off the streets
- 2.8% increased firearms arrests
- 20.8% up overall arrests in NYC
- 15,324 New Yorkers were arrested in total for criminal acts
- 30% of arrests occurred in Bronx County