NYC Continues to See Spike in Crime Despite Return to ‘Broken Windows’ Policing

By: Ilana Siyance

Serious crimes and shootings continue to rise in New York City.

NYPD data shows a 37 percent increase in major crimes throughout the five boroughs last month.  The data released Wednesday, shows the overall jump this year is led by significant jumps in vehicle thefts, robberies and burglaries, police said.  Shooting incidents also increased 16.2% in March, and year to date the NYPD has counted 332 victims of gun violence, which is a 14 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021.

As reported by the NY Post, the glum news comes after the new tough on crime NYC mayor, Eric Adams, boasted the creation of a new anti-gun unit and a return to broken windows policing.  While the data doesn’t show any swift decline in crime overall, homicides fell 15 percent and rapes dropped 4.3% in March compared to 2021.   Meanwhile, shootings, robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, auto thefts, grand larcenies, and hate crimes all spiked compared to last year.  The shootings, in particular, are worrisome in the winter months, since that’s when they usually dip, traditionally increasing in the warmer months.

“Our police need more help,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Wednesday during the first crime stats press conference held since Adams took office. “We need help from every corner of the criminal justice system and from everyone who lives in, works in or visits our great city. Any amount of crime and disorder is unacceptable.”

The NYPD’s new anti-gun unit, named the Neighborhood Safety Teams, which is responsible for reducing street crime and shootings, made 135 arrests in the three weeks since the program took effect on March 14.  However just 25 arrests, or 19%, were for firearms, said Chief of Department Ken Corey.  In all, 91 of the 135 arrested criminals had previous arrests, with 57 prior felony arrests, and 21 being on parole or probation when taken into custody, said Corey. Just 10 percent of the cuffed are still behind bars, Corey added, though he didn’t specify why they were released.

Sewell commented that improvements, due to the new NSTs and policing change, are expected “fairly quickly.”  “But we do know it does not take weeks to reverse trends that have happened over the last several years but we are working every single day to change those numbers,” Sewell said.  “We are definitely not taking our eye off the ball and we expect our results to be reflected in that and that’s what I think we are starting to see.”