The crime rate has risen in New York, matching the number of arrests, according to figures provided by the NYPD.
The police revealed the city’s crime statistics for the month of March on Wednesday and announced an overall increase in the crime rate of 36.5% compared to the same period last year, but a drop in homicides.
The overall crime rate increased by 36.5% in March 2022, compared to the same period a year ago (9,873 vs. 7,232). This increase, according to the NYPD, is driven by a 59.4% increase in auto grand theft (1,044 vs. 655), a 48.4% increase in robbery (1,267 vs. 854), and a 40.5% increase in grand theft (4,078 vs. 2,902).
Some of the updated statistics also include a 16.2% increase in shootings compared to the same period last year, but a 15.8% annual decrease in homicides. Overall, hate crimes are up 16% compared to the same period last year.
In addition, according to police data, robberies throughout the city increased by 40% (1,326 vs. 947) compared to the same period last year.
The New York Police Department noted that the first three months of 2022 have been defined by “successful arrests of violent subjects and the seizure of caches of illegal weapons, including traditional weapons and emerging firearms known as ghost weapons, which can be 3-D print at home.
Police noted at a news conference Wednesday that there have been 335 arrests for murders and non-fatal shootings so far this year, compared to 257 in the same period last year. Overall, through March, the NYPD hit a 21-year high in the number of felony arrests made by officers.
In the transit system, arrests are up 64% year over year. There is also a dramatic increase in citations for misdemeanor “quality of life” offenses this year, including more than 17,000 for fare evasion, 1,400 for smoking and 600 for obstruction of seats, such as when someone is lying down sleeping, police said.
“So we’re paying more attention, more detail, to lower-level crimes? Yes, we are. And we’re doing it to make people feel safe and to improve safety in the transit system,” said Transit Chief Jason Wilcox.
However, advocates of police reform said they believe such misdemeanor enforcement, known as “broken window policing,” targets poor and minority New Yorkers, leading to constitutional violations.
The Rikers Island prison complex is slated to close in 2027, with small county jails opening in its place, but the surge in arrests complicates that plan because too many people are currently incarcerated, which would overwhelm planned facilities.
The uniformed officer on Wednesday highlighted the work of her controversial new Neighborhood Safety Teams, where squads of officers in modified uniforms and unmarked cars seek to stop violence in the most dangerous neighborhoods. After about three weeks of these units patrolling the streets, there have been 135 arrests, 25 of them on weapons charges, the NYPD said.
Although the number of shootings has risen steadily since the start of the pandemic, about half of this year’s shootings occurred in just 10 neighborhoods, including five in the Bronx, four in Brooklyn and one in Queens. Forty percent of those responsible for shootings this year are part of a gang or group, police said, and a quarter of shootings in March occurred during the day.
A feature of the current crime landscape in the city is repeated arrests, officials said. Thirty-seven percent of those arrested this year for robberies have three or more prior arrests for the same crime. And about a quarter of those arrested for firearms offenses have been previously convicted of a felony.
Albany lawmakers have been negotiating a deal to give judges more leeway in imposing bail on criminal defendants in order to keep people who cannot post bail locked up pending court dates. . Some Democrats and racial justice activists say the 2019 and 2020 bail reform laws have had no impact on public safety, as few people released on bail are ever re-arrested.
But Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said rolling back the reforms will make the city safer.
“We certainly hope that judges are allowed to consider potential offender violence and recidivism with those policies as well,” he said.
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