By: Brandon Detmeyer
The number of shooting incidents and victims rose some 250 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest NYPD statistics.
The seven-day period between April 12 and 18, some 29 people were shot in 28 separate shootings across the city, according to stats compiled by the NYPD and obtained by The Post.
In 2021 alone, 299 people have been shot, a 54% increase over the same time last year, and the most the city has seen since 2012.
Ninety-two people have been murdered, a 19.5% jump, according to the most recent NYPD data. In 2020, the city recorded 462 murders, an increase of 45% from 2019, even as most other major felonies declined. Shooting incidents overall exploded 97% last year, Gothamist reported.
NYC is not unique, as most cities guided by progressive leadership have seen dramatic increases in crime.
Authorities say violent crimes in Minneapolis ballooned by 21% in 2020, a year marked by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and widespread protests against “racial injustice”.
The city recorded 5,422 violent crime incidents, including homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults, according to a preliminary year-end report by Minneapolis police. The city averaged 4,496 such crimes over the previous five years,, Star Tribune pointed
Murders across the United States rose an estimated 25% in 2020, according to preliminary data from the FBI, the largest increase since modern crime statistics have been compiled. Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles all had higher murder rates than New York City in 2020.
While some argue the bail reform laws in NYC contributed to the rise in shootings and murders, others point to the anti-police protests creating an environment of lawlessness and a demoralized police force, others blame the pandemic itself on the nationwide rise in crime.
The Gothamist reported: Jullian Harris-Calvin, the director of the Greater Justice New York program for the Vera Institute, said that while it will take years to fully understand COVID-19’s influence on violent crime, it is undeniable that the mass death, unemployment, and economic instability that accompanied the pandemic literally upended society, especially for people who are traditionally harmed by gun violence. Harris Calvin and others site the lack of social programs which were haulted during the pandemic, which is a traditional liberal reasoning for upticks in crime, they believe government programs, such as after school and family outreach prevent crime.
These crime statistics come at a pivotal time in NYC, with a mayoral primary around the corner, crime is sure to be a top issue among the Democratic party primary for mayor and the November election, with the GOP front runner Curtis Sliwa being a tough on crime activist who founded the Guardian Angels. Will NYC chose a “defund the police candidate” or a more moderate choice.
