The majority of the deaths have occurred in the Brooklyn neighborhood. The number of shootings is increasing across the city, however, according to an officer. A one-year-old child is among the victims. Amid the debate over major budget cuts in New York City police departments, the city’s crime figures are on the rise. The number of shootings has increased by 130% compared to June 2019. Police said the number of burglaries and car thefts has also increased.
Commissioner Dermot Shea complained in early July that “the rise in violence is putting more and more innocent people at risk and tearing the fabric of society apart”. He also said budget cuts affected the work of the police.
At the end of June, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, in consultation with the city police (NYPD), cut the city’s budget by one billion dollars (880 million euros), for the assign to “youth and community work”.
The training of more than 1,150 future police officers was therefore canceled, Dermot Shea said. At the same time, the New York police are also facing an exodus of their staff and a considerable number of requests for early retirement. In the first week of July, 179 officers said they wanted to retire earlier than expected, up from 35 in the same period last year.
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